Annual Report 2004 - Halifax Regional Municipality

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T HE Greater Halifax Partnership is the economic growth organization for the Halifax Regional Municipality. Since 1996, the Partnership has had service agreements with HRM to provide economic development services. This public-private partnership, led by an investment from HRM, brings all three levels of government and over 130 private-sector investors together to drive the Smart Growth of the region. The Partnership’s mandate is to maintain and grow businesses in HRM, while attracting new investment to the area. In short, the Partnership works to keep, grow and attract businesses in HRM. A C C O M P L I S H M E N T S The Partnership launched its SmartBusiness retention and expansion program in early 2004. SmartBusiness was developed in recognition of the fact that over 80 percent of an area’s job growth comes from existing business. SmartBusiness’ goal is to identify and overcome any barriers local business see to their growth and create the most competitive business climate in Canada. Through the program’s intervention, a direct impact on the retention and growth of over 500 jobs in 2004 was achieved. The Greater Halifax Partnership’s 2004-06 marketing campaign, “I See Growth” was launched on June 2nd, 2004. The goal of the campaign is to reinforce business confidence in the continued growth of HRM as a great place to grow your business. The campaign has a call to action that encourages people to visit www.seegrowth.com, or call the toll-free number, 1-866-SEEGROWTH, for more information on ways to grow their business. This marketing investment is critical to the economic growth of HRM, as a confident community invests in itself, grows and becomes more attractive to outside investors. Just over a year ago, HRM faced the bleak prospect that Maritime Life might possibly move from the area. With 1,050 employees and a 250,000 square-foot office area at stake, it was not an operation HRM wanted, nor could afford, to lose. Immediately, the Partnership brought representatives from Nova Scotia Business Inc. and the Halifax Chamber of Commerce together to make the business case to assure Manulife that Halifax would continue to be the ideal setting, the smart choice, for its future development and growth. As a result, when merger plans were finalized last April few jobs were lost and there are positive expectations that the company will experience an increase in employment. One of the Greater Halifax Partnership’s important contributions to strengthening local business in HRM is their role as the “go to” source for accurate, timely and insightful information. The information fulfilment program includes responding to requests, presenting events and delivering presentations. By using these vehicles, timely and relevant statistical and HRM business-case information, economic data and competitive intelligence is presented to local firms and potential outside investors. The Partnership’s investment attraction efforts continue to actively market HRM internationally as a great place to do business. In 2004, coinciding with the Annual General Meeting of the World Energy Cities Partnership, a unique organization of energy cities around the world, the Partnership led a multi-sector business mission to Trinidad, West Indies. As a result, 13 businesses and organizations formed successful business relationships in the Trinidad and Tobago market I N I T I AT I V E S T h e “ I S e e G r o w t h ” c a m p a i g n w a s l a u n c h e d t o r e i n f o r c e b u s i n e s s c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e co ntinued g row th o f H R M as a g reat place to grow a business. The Partnership will continue to deliver on activities that support community goals. Specifically, the Partnership will continue to visit businesses in HRM, targeting 700 company visits by year-end. The “I See Growth” marketing campaign will be maintained in-market, building business confidence and generating leads for our SmartBusiness teams. In 2005, it is anticipated that the SmartBusiness program will have a direct impact on the retention and growth of approximately 1,200 jobs. The Partnership will continue to be the “go to” source for timely and relevant statistical and HRM business-case information, economic data and competitive intelligence to local firms and potential outside investors. The Partnership will also continue to work with companies that are interested in doing business in HRM. ■ At a Glance: 218 new investments and expansions in HRM • 400 + companies visited through SmartBusiness, representing 25 % of HRM’s workforce • 414 requests for information • 2.6 million website hits • 2,200 people hosted at 12 events • 80 + targeted presentations delivered • 156,628 website visitors • unemployment rate at 6 %, compared to 7.5 % for Toronto, 8.6 % for Montreal, 6.8 % for Vancouver and 7.2 % nationally • 2627 housing starts • 7,100 new jobs • $319 million in non-residential construction, a 29 % increase over 2003 10 — Halifax Regional Municipality
I T WAS an important year for the Regional Plan, as in 2004 the process went from an abstract concept to a specific proposed pattern of growth, ready to be reviewed, revised and presented in its entirety to Regional Council in 2005. A LT E R N AT I V E S F O R GROW T H Based on goals and objectives approved in 2003, staff and the Regional Planning Committee designed three Alternatives for Growth: Alternative A - The Regional and Major Centres, Alternative B - The Transit- Linked Communities and Alternative C - Multiple-Hub Centres. Public consultation on the Alternatives in May and June 2004 involved a series of 12 open houses throughout the region. More than 700 residents commented on the three alternatives, filled out surveys and gave their views on the future of HRM. This helped determine which alternative presented the most attractive and viable future for the region. TH E P R O P O S E D R E G I O N A L P L A N In December 2004, Regional Council endorsed a proposed regional land use pattern. A major milestone in the Regional Planning process, this decision provides clear direction on how the region will grow over the next 25 years. Based primarily on Alternative B, the proposed Regional Plan is a hybrid, which also includes some of the strong points from Alternative A, the most compact settlement pattern and Alternative C, the most dispersed settlement pattern. For example, more population is slated for areas with piped water and sewer, in keeping with Alternative A, and transit is proposed for rural extensions, in keeping with Alternative C. The proposed Regional Plan focuses on a future of protected natural and resource lands like parks, forests and farms, effective public transit with improved bus and ferry service, mixed-use communities, so homes and businesses can be located within a comfortable walking distance of each other and a strong, globally-competitive economy. M O V I N G FO R WA R D The Regional Planning Committee expects to deliver a draft of the complete Regional Plan with policies to Regional Council in the spring of 2005, setting the stage for further consultation and the formal plan adoption process. This will include a phase of public consultation that will focus on more detailed policy discussion. It will also include another series of public information meetings and a formal public hearing before Regional Council. The Regional Plan outlines policies to be used across the entire municipality. It will provide overall guidance for how HRM should grow and develop. Specifically determining how growth happens in each community will be the role of the community plan or Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS). The proposed Regional Plan is generally in keeping with the goals and objectives of existing community plans. It will form the basis for thoughtful review and enhancement of these plans. This will be addressed as the Regional Plan is completed and will include significant public involvement. ■ Public consultation has been the hallmark of the Regional Planning process. Caption: Mill Cove (below), Transit (above ), Urban Design Awards (above lef t). 11 — Halifax Regional Municipality
Page 2 and 3: The Corporate Logo The Halifax Regi
Page 4 and 5: THE MAYOR’S MESSAGE We are please
Page 6 and 7: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Halifax Re
Page 8 and 9: Excellence in governance public par
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Page 16 and 17: HALIFAX Regional Police named their
Page 18 and 19: and even helping a woman in labour
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Page 28 and 29: H ALIFAX Public Libraries had an im
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Page 32 and 33: A WARDS and Recognition Halifax Reg
Page 34: Luxury liner Queen Mary 2 made her

Annual Report 2004 - Halifax Regional Municipality

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