Town of Cochrane Strategic Plan – Final Report October 2014
7.0 Strategic Plan Projects in Detail
The nineteen strategic plan projects described in this section align with the community’s vision
and mission. They reflect the needs and priorities expressed during consultations, surveys and
interviews. Where possible and/or relevant, we include the following information for each project:
• Description and rationale.
• Best practices.
• Potential project leaders/partners.
• Potential for funding, if relevant.
7.1 Key Direction 1: Strengthen the Business Community
The community will pursue projects that build local business
capacity and support an environment that encourages new
investment.
7.1.1 Hire a Qualified Economic Development Officer 75
It can be challenging for smaller communities to allocate adequate resources to economic
development. An Economic Development Officer will carry out one or more of the following
tasks, depending on the community’s priorities and budget:
• Provide local business support and promote retention, which may include research,
training, referrals, proposal writing, liaising with funders and government agencies, and
working with business associations.
• Implement business attraction strategies, e.g. prepare business cases and promotional
materials to attract franchises, mining suppliers, retail expansion and other economic
development opportunities.
• Offer new entrepreneur support and assistance.
• Oversee community development initiatives (e.g. new community facilities, building
improvements, establishing new social services, etc.), which may include proposal writing,
project management, claims administration, committee planning and coordination,
partnership development and report writing.
• Conduct research and/or policy development that supports broad economic diversification
and community enhancement goals.
• Collaborate on regional initiatives, such as the Northeastern Ontario Community Network
Agriculture Initiative.76
75
We suggest that this individual i s best positioned to oversee, promote and coordinate several initiatives, thus it is a key
pre-requisite for many of the strategic recommendations in this plan.
76
This is not meant to represent a complete job description for this role. You may wish to request Economic
Development Officer job descriptions from Timmins, Kirkland Lake and Kapuskasing for reference.
41