PRDA and Community Economic Development
Community Economic Development in
Pictou County Since 1991
Current Business Plan (PDF 450KB)
Annual Review 2010 (1.9MB)
The Pictou Regional Development Agency (PRDA) was established in 1991 as a partnership of the municipalities in Pictou County to encourage regional business growth and community economic development (CED). PRDA is part of a network of Regional Development Authorities (RDA's) throughout Nova Scotia who share this mandate to cultivate CED in their respective areas.
This responsibility entails fostering small business development, supporting community strategic planning and enabling local community organizations to achieve their social and economic objectives. A Board of Directors, made up of municipal elected officials and representatives from the community, guides the work of PRDA.
The success of this made-in-Nova Scotia approach to CED is predicated upon partnership and collaboration between the federal, provincial and municipal government and the local community. The RDA model, refined over the past 15 years, is recognized as best practice for achieving strong measurable results in relation to established regional economic strategies.
Specifically, PRDA focuses its efforts on:
- Investment Attraction
- Business Retention & Expansion
- Labour Force Recruitment & Retention
- Building Economic Infrastructure and Capacity
- Community Strategic Planning
The goal of PRDA is to consolidate Pictou County as one of the leading commercial and industrial areas of Atlantic Canada.
What Can PRDA Do For You?
The Pictou Regional Development Agency has a team of professionals ready to service your needs.
- Meet with business owners to help identify ways for them to grow and prosper.
- Provide information on business plans, licensing requirements, property taxes, regulations, marketing plans, etc.
- Provide databases on import replacement opportunities, local suppliers of products and services, and government tenders.
- Assist with foreign contacts and entry into new export markets.
- Provide information on available industrial and commercial properties.
- Guide new and existing business owners through the myriad of government programs and regulations.
- Provide contacts and facilitating meetings with various government or
private sector groups. - Provide detailed community statistics for use by prospective new businesses
to the area. - Provide self-directed research in our Business Resource Library.
- Work with municipal partners and community groups to plan strategically for the future.
Our Vision:
Fostering innovation, inclusiveness, local leadership and collaboration, the Pictou Regional Development Agency stimulates community economic development in Pictou County.
Our Mission:
To provide leadership for community economic development in Pictou County, with a focus on achieving meaningful and measurable results for our region.
Our Guiding Principles:
- Ensuring inclusive, united leadership is developing sustainable growth strategies;
- Leveraging community partnerships and working towards common goals;
- Effectively promoting Community Economic Development;
- Supporting and strengthening our existing business community;
- Building community capacity within Pictou County.
Read more...
Current Business Plan(PDF 450KB)
Presentation to Pictou County Chamber of Commerce Gathering, October 27, 2011
Speech Delivered by Jack Kyte, Executive Director
PRDA Executive Director Jack Kyte and Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Faus Johnson
It is a pleasure to be here this morning to talk about the Pictou Regional Development Agency.
I have only been with the Agency for three months, so I am still learning about what we do at PRDA and about the impact we have, as we try to build a better place to live and work. I am very proud of the work we do at the Agency. I appreciate this opportunity to talk to the Chamber this morning.
When I retired two years ago from Northern Pulp, my wife Sandy and I made a conscious decision to stay here. We think Pictou County has personality. We prefer to live here. Since joining the team at PRDA and finding out even more about what is happening in our communities, I know we made the right decision.
Today I would like to share with you some information about who we are, why we exist and some of the projects we are doing. Also, I would like to share some thoughts we are having at PRDA about where we would like to go in future. I would like to commend the former staff and Executive Directors of the Agency, Rob Roy, Lisa MacDonald and Gerald Gabriel, for the strong foundation they built and from which we can now move forward.
Before I begin, I would like to introduce the PRDA Staff. These are the people who do the real work of the organization. My job is to simply ride shotgun and help them be as effective as they can be.
The Pictou Regional Development Agency is funded by the provincial Department of Economic and Rural Development and Tourism and by the Federal Government through ACOA. As well, funding is made available by our municipalities. The Agency exists through an Act of the provincial legislature, The Nova Scotia Regional Community Development Act.
Regional Development Agencies or Authorities or similar organizations exist in other parts of Canada, the United States and Europe. There are 12 in Nova Scotia.
So, what exactly is CED? Here is one definition of Community Economic Development.
“CED is a community-based and community-directed process that explicitly combines social and economic development and is directed towards fostering the economic, social, ecological and cultural wellbeing of communities and regions. As such it recognizes, affirms and supports all the paid and unpaid activity that contributes to the realization of this wellbeing.”
“CED has emerged as an alternative to conventional approaches to economic development. It is founded on the belief that problems facing communities – unemployment, poverty, job loss, environmental degradation, economic instability and loss of community control – need to be addresses in an holistic and participatory way.”
As you can see, it is far more than business attraction. That is certainly an important element of what we do. But community economic development is also about helping local businesses and entrepreneurs. It is about supporting activities that make our region an attractive place to invest and to live. We do a great deal to make the area more welcoming to newcomers.
All too often we attract good people to Pictou County to work, only to see them leave because they, or their family members are not comfortable here. We need good people to relocate here. Having a welcoming community is not a frill. It is good business. Sandy and I chose to stay here after being here for 25 years. It is a much more difficult decision when you have only been here for six months or a year.
If you look at our mission statement, our take on CED becomes clearer:
The Mission of PRDA is to provide leadership in regional community economic development. PRDA exists to:
• Encourage business investment in the region
• Help regional business succeed and grow
• Support local initiatives which make our region a preferred place to work and live
• Assist municipalities to move forward through progressive community economic development
The goal is to work together for mutual gain. Not as individuals, but as people who live in a geographic area know as Pictou County. To our staff, working with farmers is just as important as working with our large manufacturers, and helping an individual with an idea is as important as any other activity we do.
To help us move forward, we have even created a Vision Statement for the Pictou Region:
The Pictou Region is a family of communities providing compelling opportunities for business investment and offering a culturally and socially rich environment, where people prefer to live and work.
Region – our geographic area and the people who live here
Family – together through thick or thin, for better or worse
Communities – people with common interest
Compelling – without question
Opportunities for investment – in people, in business – in a creative economy
Environment – We feel good about our place
Prefer – Given the choice, we want to live here
I hope you will agree this end state is worth striving to achieve. I believe it provides a higher level, over-arching concept of where we need to go. We all need a longer term view. Our only barriers to success are human – self interest, fear, unwillingness to take some level of risk and a desire to preserve the status quo…the opposites being sharing, courage, acceptance of calculated risk and the ability to embrace change.
Since I began work at the Agency, I have been asked more than once : “ So what do you guys actually do?” Good question.
I guess the best way I can explain it is by actually talking about the specific things we do, not the theory of Community Economic Development.
I would like to take you through a list of things we have been working on in recent months. These are not necessarily high profile. We work, in large measure, with volunteers doing community identified projects, the PRDA name often no where to be found when the project is complete. If we are doing things in a sustainable manner,that is the way it should be.
The downside of that for the RDA is that sometimes it is hard to describe the return on investment for our work, particularly if the project is owned and carried on by another organization.
To me, our true value is evident when the work we do has a positive impact on the behavior of people. As I go through the list, I would ask you to think whether these projects encourage positive behavior in building our communities and do they move us toward our Vision?
1. We are working with municipal units to create a formal bidding package to help us attract major events. ( This is timely, as our new Wellness Centre becomes a reality). Michael Roper on our staff is leading this effort.
2. We are beginning year three of an innovative effort to help business recruit and retain much needed employees. This project alone has saved local business over $500,000 to date, largely the result of reduced turn-over.Our goal is to sustain this project without future government funding.
3. On Monday evening this week we offered to work with the Town of Westville to create a community based asset plan to help the town improve its development planning. The town Council is considering the offer and we hope they say “Yes”.
4. We are lending support to a local initiative by Pictou County farmers who are looking at opportunities to utilize grass pellets as an alternative fuel, to supplement farm incomes and preserve our farmlands.
5. We have just completed a seminar for business on diversity awareness and how to have a more inclusive workplace. There is a strong business case for workplace diversity policies and training. WE need to do more of this. It is particularly important as we see more immigrants in workplaces and, for minorities, women, First Nations, persons with disabilities and people who we consider to be “different” than what we consider to be the norm.
6. Earlier this week we brought farmers and local restaurant owners together for the first time to explore mutual business opportunities. Along with this we helped create a branding program for locally grown foods, so when you go out for dinner, you will know when you are ordering local meats, fish and produce.
7. We have played a leadership role in creating the annual Fusion Festival, celebrating the increasing diversity of our communities. Again, an event to promote awareness and inclusion.
8. Last weekend, we hosted a unique gathering of local clergy and members of the faith community to explore ways our churches can be more welcoming to newcomers. We see this as good for business and good for people. The faith community has committed to continuing to improve in this area.
9. We have just completed a Sustainable Agriculture Asset Plan which has been adopted and will be implemented by the Pictou – North Colchester Federation of Agriculture. This is a first in the County. This is one of several rural projects led by Kelly McVicar of our staff.
10. This fall we will be leading a strategic planning exercise for the New Glasgow regional farmers market, a project we have supported since day one.
11. Last Sunday the community of Blue Mountain unveiled their own community based asset plan to energize local residents and make this small community a better place to live. Part of this was the unveiling of the first of seven kiosks in our region promoting local history.
12. By year end we will be ready to unveil the six remaining kiosks – in Durham, Merigomish, Barneys River, River John, Kenziville and Lismore .
13. We are now working with local communities to assist in planning for the arrival of our first cruise ship in September 2012. This project alone has unbelievable potential for the region.
14. Earlier this year we hosted our first Orientation Weekend and job fair for local people and for people from outside the region to come to visit the area to explore job opportunities. Several individuals were hired by local business as a result.
15. We are assisting the town of New Glasgow to promote their unique Artists in Residence project throughout the county. This is a great example of how a project led by one municipality is good for all of us.
16. Each year we work with local businesses under our Business Retention and Expansion program (we call it BRE) to see what their needs are and offer assistance. And we are the first contact for many individuals looking to do business plans or seeking business advice. Paula Irving of our staff leads these activities. Since the BRE initiative began, we have worked with over 100 businesses.
17. We are the conduit for provincial and federal funding applications for dozens of local groups to help them undertake a variety of community based projects. It has not been unusual for us to attract in the order of a half million dollars in project funding to the region annually.
18. We are working with Destination Eastern And Northumberland Shores Association (DEANS), our Tourist association, and local communities on several tourism related projects. Our job is to focus on tourism “products” and DEANS works on tourism “promotion”. This is a good partnership.
19. In September our team brokered a first time partnership between our Agency, the Pictou Campus of the Nova Scotia Community College and the Pictou Landing First Nation community to undertake a training program for teaching assistants and carpenters.
20. We have just received funding for one of our team members to become a “Newcomer Navigator” for the region. Sally O’Neal is leading this initiative, which will provide information and guidance to newcomers, for Canadians and for immigrants, so that they will be able to make a home in Pictou County, contributing long term to the workforce and economy and adding new energy, culture and talents to the community.
21. We are working with the Town of Trenton as they seek funding for improvements to Trenton Park. This is another example of how projects in each municipality have regional benefits.
22. We are encouraging interaction among business people with ideas who want to connect with like minded individuals in what is known as the Creative Economy.
So there is my list. And these are current projects. PRDA has been doing this work for 20 years now. There are few local projects in that time we have not touched in some way, including the establishment of Convergys, assistance for employees when Trenton Works closed their doors and a great deal of work to encourage DSME to invest in Trenton.
All of which leads me to two questions :
Do these activities add value for our region?
And, would they happen if PRDA were no longer here?
My answer to the first question is – YES - I would argue they are all good for business and good for people.
My answer to the second is NO – Most of these things would not have happened if PRDA did not exist. We are the one Agency that is positioned to look at the picture and long- term gain.
Having said that, we know there is much more to do.
We are taking a careful look at our overall communications strategy. We truly need to position our region as a place where businesses want to invest. And we need to do a better job here to inform local people about our work.
We need to make sure provincial decision makers think of Pictou County first when advising new businesses where to locate in the province.
And when new business comes here to kick the tires, we need to be ready to host them in the best possible way.
I think this is an area where we can partner with the Chamber and the business people who are already here. We will need your advice and support if we are to be successful.
Just as the Chamber is the voice of business in our county, I believe there is great potential for PRDA to be a central voice for our region. Earlier this month I published an op-ed piece in the Halifax Chronicle Herald . It was about PRDA’s 20th anniversary. But it was also about positioning us in a positive way within our province. Our funding comes from tax payers. And I think there is more we can do to be a voice for them, in relation to the on-going development of this unique part of our province.
And finally, we will be attempting to find a better balance in the work we do. Our primary funders, the province and ACOA and our municipalities sometimes have different priorities. At times we have been criticized for paying too much attention to the social side of Community Economic Development. Other times, we have been criticized for paying too little attention to support municipal projects. And we are sometimes criticized for not paying enough attention to business attraction.
Our big challenge is to balance these needs in the best interests of the people of the region, whether they are in rural or urban Pictou County.
Thank – you for allowing me speak to you today. Our team at PRDA looks forward to working in partnership with the Chamber in the months ahead.
View pictures from this event on our community page.
