dan fumano: vancouver business community questions scrapping of economic commission
column: abc coun. mike klassen says closing external economic commission and opening new office in city hall will serve business community well.
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last thursday, shauna sylvester was preparing for a meeting with the vancouver economic commission, when she received a shock. minutes before its scheduled time, sylvester’s meeting was abruptly cancelled. in fact, not only was the meeting called off; the commission itself was soon to be history.
“i was stunned,” said sylvester.
last thursday, the city announced it would decommission the vancouver economic commission, or vec, a non-profit group launched in 1995.
sylvester, the former executive director of simon fraser university’s centre for dialogue, now lives in the u.s. and advises cities around north america with a non-profit called urban climate leadership. in these discussions, she says, she frequently points to the vec, which she worked with over the years, “as a model for other cities to emulate.”
“the vast majority of vancouverites don’t know the vec and probably don’t see its value,” she said. “but they do see the growth of jobs, they see the big companies coming to vancouver. they see that we have a film industry, a vibrant environment- and clean-technology companies and an active gaming industry, they might even be employed by some of them … this is how they came to vancouver.”
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sylvester, who ran for mayor of vancouver as an independent in 2018 against current mayor ken sim, says she has never publicly criticized sim since he was elected last year. but after the vec’s abrupt closure, she’s calling on the mayor to provide more transparency about the rationale behind council’s decision to end the commission and what will happen next.
“this decision hits vancouver hard and it is so difficult to understand coming from a mayor who i think genuinely wants to see a diverse, clean, creative and knowledge-based economy,” sylvester said. “this decision seems wacky to me.”
city hall has announced that with the vec’s dissolution, it will launch a new “business and economy office” inside the city manager’s office, and will work with invest vancouver, a region-wide initiative created in 2019 to attract investment to metro vancouver.
but sylvester sees the value of having an arm’s-length organization like the vec instead of folding more work into the bureaucracy of the city manager’s office.
shauna sylvester in 2018
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just as the u.s. government under president joe biden is moving quickly to “transition to a clean economy and set up centres in cities to advance investment in green and creative businesses, we are dismantling our competitive advantage,” sylvester said. “i swear i must be missing something here. it just doesn’t add up.”
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sylvester was not the only one publicly questioning the decision and calling for a more thorough explanation. several local business leaders and professionals expressed concern and shock this week in public statements on social media, especially on linkedin.
the city says a search for “financial efficiencies” contributed to the decision to wind down the vec.
the city hasn’t yet confirmed the one-time costs associated with the decommission, a city spokesperson said in an emailed statement, but “financial efficiencies were a consideration contributing to this decision and the budget savings are estimated to be $2 million per year.”
last thursday, 13 out of the vec’s 23 staff members and two of the three contractors were notified their jobs were being terminated as part of the vec’s decommissioning.
the city said that some of those 15 people affected by the job cuts may remain in their roles until mid-2024 while programs are wound down, while others will leave their roles “in the coming weeks.”
james riley, ceo of vancouver software company lightspark, said he believes the vec provided a good return on investment.
“is it penny-wise and pound-foolish?” riley asked. “you save $2 million bucks, great. but this was something that was stimulating the economy and attracting investment.”
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the vec introduced riley’s company to international trade commissions, investors and partner companies, he said. the vec was instrumental in amazon and microsoft setting up significant offices in vancouver, riley said, and helped connect made-in-vancouver tech company hootsuite with early investors.
“every city has an economic commission … to stimulate economic growth,” riley said. “what was unique about the vancouver economic commission was … it was a leader in the global climate leadership movement.”
the vec was a key part of efforts by vision, the municipal party in power from 2008 to 2018, to make vancouver a hub for clean technology and innovation. some supporters of the vec and the broader green technology industry are affiliated with vision, including sadhu johnson, who served as city manager under vision and now is an adviser to lightspark, and sylvester, a former vision board member.
riley hopes vancouver’s abc-majority council didn’t decide to wind down the vec because it’s viewed as “a legacy of vision,” he said.
“if it’s being squashed for political reasons, that is a major mistake.”
vancouver mayor ken sim during a celebratory ground awakening ceremony for the future home of the vancouver art gallery at the chan centre for the visual arts, in vancouver, b.c. on september 15, 2023.
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riley supported sim in last year’s election, he said, and liked abc’s campaign messaging about promoting a vibrant, business-friendly city. that’s why, riley said, he and others in his industry felt “blindsided” by last week’s announcement.
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sim didn’t reply to a request for comment tuesday sent through his communications director.
abc coun. mike klassen said the vec’s dissolution is “an evolution” of how economic development operates in the city.
“the new business office we’re setting up will allow us to have more on-the-ground, direct relationships” with both small local businesses and major players in key sectors like tech, klassen said. “it also perhaps gives council more control … to pivot where we need to … we evaluated this is a better way to direct those millions of dollars we’re currently spending. i estimate we’ve probably spent between $25 (million) and 30 million on the vec in the last decade or so, and we have to be careful with the taxpayers’ dollars.
“having vec in a separate office, run by a separate staff and kind of two steps away from what was going on at city hall, i think that was probably not the way we wanted to go forward, because we’re a very business-focused council.”
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