Body: Council Type: Document Meeting: Committee Date: 2019 Collection: Agenda Attachments Municipality: Frontenac County
[View Document (PDF)](/docs/frontenac-county/Item Attachments/Agenda Item/2019/July/2019-081 Community Development Advisory Committee Request to expand Ambassador Program to Rural Kingston/Request to Expand Ambassador Program.pdf)
Document Text
Report 2019-081 Committee Recommend Report To:
Chair and Members of the Community Development Advisory Committee
From:
Alison Vandervelde, Community Development Officer
Date of meeting:
July 11, 2019
Re:
Community Development Advisory Committee – Request to expand Ambassador Program to Rural Kingston
Recommendation Be It Resolved That the 2019 Annual Ambassador Survey include a question about expanding the program to include businesses located outside of Frontenac’s municipal boundaries; And Further That staff report back at the November Community Development Advisory Committee meeting with Ambassador responses to inform a discussion on this topic. Background At its regular meeting on February 20, 2019 County Council received Report 2019-027 Planning and Economic Development – Request to expand Ambassador Program to Rural Kingston. County Council referred the request to “include farms, farm families and agricultural businesses located in the Countryside ward and former Pittsburgh be eligible to participate in the Frontenac Ambassador Program” to the Community Development Advisory Committee. Please refer to the report linked above for full details concerning the request. Comment As indicated in Report 2019-027, when surveyed in 2017, Ambassadors at the time provided 70% support for inclusion, but also indicated mixed reactions about expanding the program beyond Frontenac’s municipal boundaries. Over the last two years, staff have focused efforts on recruiting businesses physically located within Frontenac, with a few rare exceptions. In the 2017 survey, the question was phrased as:
“A few businesses with ties to Frontenac – that are technically not located in Frontenac – have expressed interest in becoming Frontenac Ambassadors. What do you think, do we let them in the club or not?” Staff are proposing inclusion of the same question verbatim in the 2019 survey. The Frontenac Ambassadors themselves have guided staff activities and program priorities, and staff wish to place the needs and desires of our Frontenac stakeholders at the top of our program. Although the request from the Frontenac Federation of Agriculture concerns a narrow subset of businesses located in the City of Kingston, it is likely that the decision to include these businesses would have broader implications for the program, with the potential of requests from other industries or geographical regions following suit. Strategic Priorities At its June meeting, County Council approved Frontenac County Strategic Plan 20192022. Priority 3 - Champion and coordinate collaborative efforts with partners to resolve complex problems otherwise beyond the reach of individual mandates and jurisdictions. This priority indicates that opportunities for increased regional collaboration should be seriously and thoughtfully considered. Financial Implications Costs for the Frontenac Ambassador program are included in the 2019 Operating Budget for Economic Development. Organizations, Departments and Individuals Consulted and/or Affected Members of Community Development Advisory Committee Frontenac County Council & staff Township of Frontenac Islands Township of South Frontenac Township of Central Frontenac Township of North Frontenac Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation Local Businesses in and around Frontenac Frontenac Federation of Agriculture Frontenac County Residents
Recommend Report to Community Development Advisory Committee Request to Expand Ambassador Program July 11, 2019
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