Gregor Robertson and the Vision team promised to support and promote the growth of local business in the last campaign, and that’s just what we’ve done.
On September 29, the Vancouver Economic Development Commission (VEDC) released an economic development strategy that delivers on Vision’s promise to nurture and grow Vancouver’s thriving economy even more. Vancouver’s Vision-lead City Council has made real progress in growing the local economy over the past three years. Other wins for the local economy include:
- Landing $85 million in direct investment for Vancouver through Metro Vancouver Commerce, the Olympic business program championed by Mayor Robertson and the VEDC;
- Nurturing relationships with major digital and creative companies, leading to the opening of new offices in Vancouver by Pixar, Sony Imageworks and Canon Canada;
- Achieving the lowest overall property tax rate of any Metro Vancouver municipality for 2011, and recognition by KPMG that Vancouver has the most competitive tax rate of any major city in the world;
- Approving a Metro Core Jobs plan that brought stability to the downtown real estate market, helping spark a boom in new office towers, including a $750 million new national headquarters by Telus, and a proposed new 400,000 square foot LEED Platinum tower by a European consortium;
- Investing in arts and cultural sector employment by saving the historic York Theatre and partnering with the federal government on major upgrades to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, the Orpheum, and the Malkin Bowl;
- Tackling the mess left by the former NPA administration around Olympic Village financing - with Village condo sales today now averaging more than one condo per day since February - and the resulting upgrade of the City’s debt outlook by Moody’s.
Not only has Vision kept the City budget on track through tough economic times, but we did it in a way that protected core services in the City and took an energetic, positive approach to business development.
We’ve made good progress, but we have more work to do. We need your support to continue our work with the business community to keep Vancouver moving forward.
