COMMITTEE FOR BUSINESS INNOVATION, GROWTH AND ATTRACTION

TUESDAY, May 31, 2016, AT 3:00 P.M. ROOM 530 – 5th FLOOR – ABBOTSFORD CITY HALL

AGENDA

1. CALL TO ORDER 2. ADOPTION OF MINUTES

Minutes of the Regular meeting of the Committee for Business Innovation, Growth and Attraction held April 26, 2016 (attached)

(p. 2)

3. PRESENTATIONS

None. 4. DELEGATIONS

None.

5. BUSINESS OUT OF MINUTES

None. 2

6. REPORTS

.1 Verbal Report by the Economic Development Officer regarding the upcoming Taste of Abby week

.2 Report No. BIGA 002-2016, dated May 26, 2016, from the Executive Director,

Economic Development, and the Senior Business Licence Inspector, regarding Inter-municipal Business Licence (attached)

(p. 5) 2

.3 Verbal Report by the Executive Director, Economic Development, Economic Development Officer, and Economic Development Coordinator, regarding an update on Economic Development Department Activities - Background information (attached)

(p. 8) 2

7. NEW BUSINESS None. 8. ADJOURNMENT

Minutes of the Committee for Business Innovation, Growth and Attraction meeting, held on April 26, 2016 at 3:01 p.m., in Room 530 of Abbotsford City Hall Committee Members Present: Mayor Braun (Chair); Councillor Blue; Councillor Falk (part), and Councillor Loewen Staff Present: City Manager – G. Murray; Deputy City Manager – J. Rudolph (part); Executive Director, Economic Development – W. Dupley; Economic Development Officer – A. Mitchell and Economic Development Coordinator – E. Taylor Others Present: None Public Present: 7 1. CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 3:01 p.m. 2. ADOPTION OF MINUTES

Moved by Councillor Blue, seconded by Councillor Loewen, that the minutes of the Business Innovation, Growth and Attraction Committee meeting held January 26, 2015, be adopted. BIGA006-2016 CARRIED.

3. PRESENTATIONS None. 4. DELEGATIONS .1 Michelle Favaro, Executive Director, Abbotsford Division of Family Practice

presented on the A GP for Me Initiative

M. Favaro along with Dr. J. Boparai and Dr. J. Liu spoke about the need for more General Practitioners in the city of Abbotsford, the factors that General Practitioners consider when deciding where to practice, how Abbotsford ranks on those factors and the tools that Abbotsford Division of Family Practice will be implementing as a result of the insights they obtained from their research.

Moved by Councillor Loewen, seconded by Councillor Blue, that the delegation of Michelle Favaro, regarding the A GP for Me initiative, be received for information. BIGA007-2016 CARRIED.

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Minutes of the Business Innovation, Growth and Attraction Committee meeting, held on April 26, 2016 at 3:01 p.m., in Room 530 of Abbotsford City Hall Page 2 .2 Mike Ivanof, Associate Professor, University of the Fraser Valley presented on the

Entrepreneurship and Process Innovation/Incubation Centre (EPIIC)

M. Ivanof spoke about the selection criteria for the EPIIC program, what the program facilitates, the incubation process, and desired outcomes. Councillor Falk entered the meeting at 3:31 p.m.

Moved by Councillor Loewen, seconded by Councillor Blue, that the delegation of Mike Ivanof, regarding the Entrepreneurship and Process Innovation/ Incubation Centre (EPPIC), be received for information. BIGA008-2016 CARRIED.

5. BUSINESS OUT OF MINUTES .1 Updated Request for Proposal for Economic Development Strategy The Executive Director, Economic Development spoke about how the Request for Proposal for an Economic Development strategy aligns with Council’s Strategic Plan, what is needed from a consultant to complete the work, and the purpose of having an Economic Development Strategy.

Moved by Councillor Loewen, seconded by Councillor Blue, that the verbal report by the Executive Director, Economic Development regarding the Request for Proposal for an Economic Development Strategy, be received for information. BIGA009-2016 CARRIED.

6. REPORTS .1 Report by Economic Development Department Staff on Economic Development

Department Activities The Executive Director, Economic Development took questions from the Committee regarding the Report, showed a video clip of the latest CAEDTV video and showed the Committee the website of a new business that is relocating to Abbotsford.

Moved by Councillor Falk, seconded by Councillor Blue, that that the verbal report by the Executive Director, Economic Development, regarding an update on the Economic Development Department’s work, be received for information. BIGA003-2016 CARRIED.

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Minutes of the Business Innovation, Growth and Attraction Committee meeting, held on April 26, 2016 at 3:01 p.m., in Room 530 of Abbotsford City Hall Page 3 7. NEW BUSINESS None.

8. ADJOURNMENT

Moved by Councillor Falk seconded by Councillor Blue, that the Committee for Business Innovation, Growth and Attraction meeting, be adjourned. (4:08 p.m.)

CARRIED.

Certified Correct: Henry Braun Emily Taylor Chair Recording Secretary

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City of Abbotsford Economic Development (CAED)

Report to Business Innovation Growth and Attraction (BIGA) – May 2016

Business Retention and Expansion

Since the last meeting of BIGA, three new site visits have been held directly with business owners. At BR&E site visits, CAED staff connects with the business owner and carries out a full interview on the current status of the business as well as any opportunities and challenges they might be facing. The role of staff is to connect the business owners to the tools and resources that they need in order to grow. This function supports innovation, investment, and aligns with the Vibrant Economy cornerstone by helping businesses thrive. Staff may carry out numerous visits, conduct research and hold many subsequent meetings when working with one client. Site visits were fewer this month due to EcD year two training and preparations for Taste of Abbotsford Week (more below).

Through this month's visits, here are a few examples of the follow up assistance that was provided: Referring a potential client to NRC IRAP programming Assisting a new business with local contacts, and support writing a grant application Re-location assistance for a growing business looking for a new facility Location assistance for a business in Surrey looking to relocate to Abbotsford Showing business owners how to use the GIS site selector tool for upcoming expansion plans Assisting a local business that is struggling with their financial plan, and creative ways to develop their

customer base

Chamber of Commerce Business Showcase

CAED had a presence at the annual Business Showcase in partnerships with Chambers of Commerce' from across the Fraser Valley. CAED was also an event sponsor. At this event staff connected with numerous businesses in the community as well as business owners interested in getting further information about Abbotsford.

Business Walks

The second annual Business Walks will be taking place in October during BC Small Business month. Two municipalities in BC (City of Langley and Merritt) have requested to use the model of the Abbotsford Business Walks week for their inaugural Business Walks. We will support those communities with our documents and materials from 2015.

Sector Engagement

Given that CAED’s three priority strategic sectors are Aerospace, Manufacturing, and Agriculture, CAED staff engage with these sectors with a strong focus on Business Retention and Expansion. This focus connects with Council's Strategic Plan in the Vibrant Economy Cornerstone, as CAED seeks to engage with and support the growth of these sectors in Abbotsford.

New Sector Video

This is the second last video in the feature series on Abbotsford Industry. This video focusses on local food processing company ACI foods. They process organic hemp and have a great supply chain relationship with Silver Hills Bakery.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O339bU_0Wec Agriculture Sector

Staff supported the recent public engagement meetings undertaken by Planning and Development Services for Ag-refresh. Chamber Agriculture Committee - Feb 15 Conversation on Farm Property Tax

CAED staff has a liaison role at the Chamber of Commerce Agriculture Committee. Chamber of Commerce Agricultural Advisory Committee has provided a Letter of support to the University of the Fraser Valley regarding Building Agricultural Resilience through Diversification 2016 Agricultural Enhancement Grant Application (attached) Agriculture Bus Tour Update The Chamber of Commerce will be hosting their annual agriculture bus tour on June 17th. So far the stops on the ride will be: ACI Food, BC Hop Company, and a Petkov Kiwi, and Artisan Sake Maker.

54 people registered to date

VIP guests include Mayor Henry Braun, Simon Gibson, Ronda Payne from Country Life Magazine, Cate Pedersen from Modern Agriculture Magazine

Waiting to confirm who will be attending on behalf of sponsors Farm Credit Canada and BC ADDIAC (City of Abbotsford Agriculture, Dyking, Drainage, Irrigation Advisory Committee) a) Discussed Water System Overview

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b) Recent ALC Applications

More and more applications coming to city for exclusions

Is this ag, commercial or industrial?

Good project for Ag Committee going forward

Abbotsford has far more diversity = bigger opportunity to have a leading voice

Need more opinion/feedback from community

MSC for Ag Committee to take a leadership role and survey our members

Allan will bring plan of action for committee to review at next meeting

Suggestion to set principles 1. fairness in taxation 2. uses of land to promote Abbotsford Tulip Festival Tremendously successful event A lot of tour groups and out of town visitors to Abbotsford Allan received a call from Nick Warmerdam to ask for the Chamber's support Logistic issue of one road in and one road out Suggestion to move to south side of freeway Suggestion to park somewhere else and use shuttles Think Local. Think Abbotsford. Taste of Abby Week

A key area for BR&E is to support the existing businesses in the community.

The Taste of Abby Week initiative will take place from June 19- 26th across the City of Abbotsford. It will follow the Chamber of Commerce's Agriculture Bus Tour scheduled for June 17th and be promoted in advance at the Abbotsford Farm and Country Market on June 18th.

Local businesses strengthen communities, build resilience and foster innovation. They create good jobs,

support local charities, contribute significantly to our tax base and re-circulate the dollars they make many

times locally by using other local businesses as suppliers for marketing, financial, legal and other services.

This Eat Local Week will align with Council's cornerstone of a Vibrant Economy.

For every $100 spent with a local owned, BC-based business $46 is recirculated back into B.C.’s economy. These statistics and more are drawn from research done in British Columbia (LOCO BC). CAED is organizing a Taste of Abby Week, to support our priority with the agriculture sector and foster more economic growth. This event is set to run concurrently to the Mayor’s Breakfast in June 2016. This initiative has the following goals in mind: Educate the public about the types of agricultural products made in Abbotsford Instill an understanding of the benefits of shopping locally Drive traffic and customers to local businesses (restaurants, agri-tourism locations etc.) Connect with and support Abbotsford’s agricultural sector for producers and retailers Over 50 local businesses have been approached by CAED to sign on to the Taste of Abby Week. They must meet the following criteria to participate: 1.) Be a business in Abbotsford 2.) Be a regular buyer of local Abbotsford agriculture produce and/or local food products 3.) Offer a special promotion/discount of a locally produced product, or restaurant dish made using

predominately local Abbotsford ingredients, through the period of June 19 - June 26, 2016 (the amount of the discount is left to the discretion of the business)

4.) Provide City of Abbotsford Economic Development with a summary of what will be your ‘special’ promotion item’s during the Taste of Abby week by June 1st

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5.) Provide a photo of your business, web link, and contact details for your business to be listed on http://caed.abbotsford.ca/about-abbotsford/think-local-think-abbotsford/

Business that participate will receive: 1.) Free business listing on http://caed.abbotsford.ca/about-abbotsford/think-local-think-abbotsford/ 2.) Promotion via social media and City of Abbotsford Economic Development channels 3.) Special promotion up to and during our inaugural Taste of Abby week through City of Abbotsford Economic

Development media partnerships 4.) Special promotion up to and during our inaugural Taste of Abby week through City of Abbotsford Economic

Development media partnerships In addition to the business partners signing on to participate, CAED is organizing a focus event celebrating local food midweek. More details to come! Taste of Abby week has confirmed the Abbotsford News as a media partner and will be promoting the event through other community partners including the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce, BC Agriculture Council, Abbotsford Farm and Country Market, Tourism Abbotsford, and the BC Blueberry Council. A social media competition will be organized to encourage customers to tweet/Instagram with #localabby with prizes from local businesses on offer. An adjacent competition will be between businesses. The business that has the most amount of #localAbby posts from their location will receive a special feature on www.caed.abbotsford.ca/blog Business Tools

Through meetings with Futurpreneur and the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training regional representative, staff are set to coordinate a few workshops geared to businesses in Abbotsford. The choice of workshops topics was driven by feedback from 1:1 meetings with business owners, the online snapshot survey for businesses on www.caed.abbotsford.ca, as well as responses from the 2015 Business Walks Week. Given that our team discovered key need from business planning, succession planning, and financing options, these workshop resources will be made available before small business month 2016. Given Abbotsford’s winning of an Open for Business Award from the Small Business Roundtable in 2015, CAED will carry out this unique series of workshops geared to Abbotsford’s key sectors and priority needs Staff is finalizing partnerships with other organizations for delivery of these workshops. The view is to have a financing fair as a regional event in the fall, discussions will be undertaken with our counterparts in neighboring communities. Sponsorship and support for the financing fair has already being offered from Prospera, Sands and TD Bank. The EDOs at Mission and Chilliwack have already voiced their interest in participating. Investment Attraction (IA) We are pleased to report that Structure Craft from Delta, have now lodged their development permit application and will be building a new location for their business on Foy St. Staff at their current facility have been informed. CAED staff showcased the Structure Craft website during our last BIGA meeting. Two other leads of interest that have been received since our last meeting. A multinational packaging company call NNZ that are headquartered in Holland. They are seeking an existing building on which to locate a BC facility for their organization. In Canada, this would be their second location as they have a facility in Ontario currently. This is an interesting enquiry as it aligns closely with our international marketing blueprint completed by DCI in its sector and market. We are competing with communities across the lower mainland with this

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enquiry and their decision will be based on the availability of the right warehouse facility. Abbotsford currently has very little inventory available in the 5-7000 sq. ft. range. The second lead recently received is an Ontario business that is looking at Abbotsford as a potential base for a call Centre facility. This facility would employ 300+ and requires 30-50,000 sq. ft. Numerous other IA leads are still under management. Other

Tourism

A new manager for tourism Abbotsford has been appointed. This person replaces the recently retired Yvonne Hayden. The role was reviewed and refined before recruitment took place. The successful candidate was Chris Blanchette will soon be joining us in the capacity of Manager, Destination Sales & Marketing. Chris most recently was the Brand Experience Manager for Central City Brewers & Distillers in Surrey where he oversaw all digital marketing initiatives, maintained key relationships, and led their sponsorship and event activities. Prior to Central City, he worked for Tourism Vancouver in the Marketing Communications department, as well as assisted their Meetings & Conventions team. His experience at Tourism Vancouver allowed him to manage visits from media in key markets, as well as Familiarization tours for meeting planners. Chris’s education is quite diverse as he initially completed a Bachelor of Applied Communications in Professional Writing at Grant MacEwan University in Alberta. He then went on to graduate from BCIT’s Marketing Management in Tourism program. Chris lives in Chilliwack and is very excited to begin the next phase of his career at Tourism Abbotsford commencing the week of June 6th. Events coming up include the 25th Anniversary of TRADEX and the AGM for the Tourism Abbotsford Society. Marketing and Communications

Tactics from CAED’s newly developed marketing and communications plan are well underway! In fact, a video entitled Many Crops of Abbotsford will premiere at the Mayor’s Breakfast. Watch out for a new Instagram account launching soon. The objective of the marketing and communications plan is to build upon the tools and resources that we have in place, direct traffic to our new sites and monitor the return based upon each campaign and media type used. KPIs are in the process of development linked directly to each campaign. Our initial campaign will run in the fall of 2016 and will target agriculture technology businesses. This closely aligns with council’s strategic plan, vibrant economy cornerstone, principal three “ Social Media

To date we have seen steady growth in both our Twitter and Instagram accounts. With growths of 58.55% and 77.14% respectively since the beginning of the year. Most notably would have to be our Instagram account which has really started to see some traction since we began incorporating some of the suggestions learned in last months webinar on strategic timing as well as the importance in incorporating additional tools such as the "Repost" app and trendy filters. We are on track to meet and exceed our targets well within the contractual period.

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We will be rolling out a social media campaign specific to the upcoming "Taste of Abby" event and anticipate a surge in our exposure growth as well as some exciting online interaction from within our social media community.

Film

Here is a list of all the film productions that have filmed in Abbotsford this far in 2016:

Date(s) of Film Title Category Location(s) Total dollar amount spent in community

March 17 Legends of Tomorrow Series TRADEX $28,000

February 29 - March 19 Three Bedrooms One Corpse

TV Movie MEI School, Old Clayburn School Hall and Champagne & Lace

$49,000

March 3-4 A Time to Dance TV Movie Spruce Collective, Little White House and Champagne & Lace -

March 10-11 Mech-X4 Series 37271 Ward Road $30,000 March 14 Lululemon Men’s

Training Photoshoot Photo Rotary Stadium $0.00

March 30-April 5 Tulips for Rose TV Movie 2707 Marion Rd and 5159 Bradner Rd

$17,000

April 12 and May 9 Beyond Series 29306 Duncan Ave and 1080 Bradner Rd

April 12 The Julius House TV Movie Old Clayburn School Hall and Clayburn Bed and Breakfast

$9,000

April 14-16 Ms. Matched TV Movie Downtown Abbotsford and Sandman Hotel

$35,000

Production Comments: “We had a very good experience in Abbotsford. The staff at TRADEX were very accommodating and the location provided everything we needed to have a successful film day (ample Parking and a great space to film in.” – Legends of Tomorrow “Our production had a positive experience filming in Abbotsford. Working with the neighbourhood of Duncan Ave., we found the community to be very supportive. Based on the feedback from them, it was an overall positive experience for them as well. Working with the city was a great experience. Emily is great to work with and made the application process a smooth one.” – Beyond

Professional Development

EDAC Year 1 – Fundamentals of Economic Development

Emily was awarded a scholarship to attend EDAC’s Year 1 - Fundamentals of Community Economic Development course in Waterloo, ON. A highlight included the opportunity to see Larry Smith (Economist and TED speaker) speak. Also, Abbotsford was highlighted in the Investment Ready session - the participants were blown away with Abbotsford’s site selector tool and website. The course was a wonderful opportunity to meet and network with practicing economic developers from across the country.

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EDAC Year 2 – Advancing Economic Development Opportunities

Alex attended the year 2 training for the Ecd Certification program in Edmonton. Here she completed a Tourism case study in Strathcona County, presenting to council and senior staff on a tourism challenge facing the community. Coursework for the week consisted of: Day 1: How to support entrepreneurship in the community verses new venture creation. Day 2: Focus on Entrepreneurial Culture in community economic development as well as a focus on Alberta's innovation economy. This included a special in depth presentation from the CEO of Tec Edmonton. Following that, the class participated in an in depth look at comprehensive tourism development strategies as well as a need for strong collaboration if tourism is structured as a DMO model. It ended with completing a number of case studies to solve a local tourism challenge Day 3: Marketing experts touched on integrated approaches to marketing a community. Day 4: Strathcona County Fieldwork Day 5: Focused on Advancing Regional innovation in Western and Northern Canada with Ken Coates (Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation) and 2 presentations on Growing the Green Economy as well as Green Economy Advantages in Western Canada Day 6: Focus on Labour and Skills Development in Community Economic Development as well as a comprehensive look at Performance Evaluation in Economic Development The course was an excellent opportunity to learn new skills, refresh things learned during Year 1, as well as continue to build a strong network of practicing economic development professionals of which to connect with for insights and ideas. Economic Development Strategy

The request for proposal to develop and economic development strategy closed on May 13th. Four proposal were submitted including: Millier Dickinson Blais; Lions Gate Consulting; Econ Development Solutions (Dale Wheeldon); Eco Plan (recommended by BC Provincial Government – Economic Development). These applications have been reviewed and we anticipate that we will be notifying the successful organization shortly.

GIS Planning Site Selector Tool

The demographics and business data now reflects the current year, 2016, as well as 2021 projection. Consumer Spending and Labour Force data will be updated in June.

Airshow Chalet

As in previous years, the City will be purchasing 100 tickets to the President’s Club chalet. This year, we are revamping it a bit. CAED is working with the Abbotsford Airshow Society to create an exclusive area within the President’s Club for City of Abbotsford guests only. We are creating ‘swag bags’ for our guests with items such as sunglasses, sunscreen and hats. Also, this year’s guest list has more of a focus on large recent investments into the City of Abbotsford and potential investors (pipeline leads) as well.

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