Belleville’s Economic and Destination Development Committee is recommending that council approve the hiring of another staff member, to take some load off current workers in the Economic Development Department.
The department has been running on its current staffing structure since 2004 and a report from Economic Development Manager Karen Poste says given the work being done in the department, their staff resources are “significantly lacking”.
Compared to other municipalities in the region, Belleville currently has the smallest economic development staff at three, despite having the largest population, at close to 50,000.
The report recommends hiring one new staffer and splitting the development and tourism coordinator position into two, which would create positions for a tourism coordinator and a business development coordinator.
Poste told the committee st Thursday’s meeting the split would allow the department to focus more on specific issues affecting both of those areas, while also noting that being understaffed in economic development might send the wrong message to the local business community.
“There are lots of things we could and should be doing in economic development, and we really want to do that. We’re a department that loves change, we love new initiatives, we know there are lots of things that need to be addressed to benefit our businesses and we really want to do that. And we’ll continue to work really hard to do that.”
Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board lead Dug Stevenson, who acts as a staff advisor on the committee, said given the work being done locally on the economic development front, that extra staff member is much needed.
“The work coming out of this office already is unreal, with such limited resources. And how much they support what our organization is trying to do with this collaborative approach to economic development, tourism, resident attraction and jobs in the region. To imagine them getting another staff member, would just allow for so much growth.”
Other members were also adamant in their support for the idea, but the decision to pass the report onto council wasn’t unanimous.
Councillor Kelly McCaw told the committee while she didn’t object to the hiring, she didn’t feel the right process was being followed.
“Why wouldn’t we refer this to finance like normal? Why would we be making a recommendation from a committee, rather than it go through the normal process? Because this isn’t quite the normal process. So I guess I’m just curious as to why we’re dealing with this here and not through the normal process.”
City Clerk Matt MacDonald clarified that the committee was within its scope to recommend the hiring, but it would still have to be approved by council and go through the budget process.
A recorded vote passed by a 9-2 margin, with McCaw and Kathryn Brown voting against.
You can read the report with full background information by clicking here and watch the full meeting below.
