Fredericton-Region Stakeholders Preparing Economic Growth Plan
FREDERICTON – The local business community and their economic development partners are working on a phased plan to restart the economy now the province has begun to loosen restrictions and re-open parts of the economy.
A working group has come together in the weeks since the crisis began. It includes the City of Fredericton, the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, Ignite Fredericton, MP Jenica Atwin, Fredericton Tourism, Downtown Fredericton Inc., Business Fredericton North, the Fredericton International Airport, Opportunities New Brunswick and St. Mary’s First Nation
“The fact that the partners have been meeting regularly for years and worked on countless initiatives together, made it very easy for us to transition into crisis-management-mode, followed by recovery mode, and now to growth-planning mode,” said Ignite Fredericton CEO Larry Shaw in a release.
Mayor Mike O’Brien says their ability to work together makes him optimistic about the future.
“I was always aware that our community’s various stakeholder groups worked very well together, but the collaboration and ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach that I’ve seen over the past two months gives me a lot of confidence that Fredericton’s future remains bright,” said O’Brien. “The recent announcement of the #SupportFredLocal partnership is another great example of this cohesiveness.”
RELATED: #SupportFredLocal Encourages Residents To Shop At Fredericton Businesses
The group has begun work on its Covid-19 recovery plan and will be launching a survey of the Fredericton Region business community next week.
“The Fredericton chamber and all the other partners have heard from our members and stakeholders continuously through the past two months, so we have a good feel for what is happening on-the-ground and the challenges faced by business,” said Chamber of Commerce CEO Krista Ross. “Now it’s a matter of collecting that more detailed and robust data to best inform our plans and activities moving forward.”
The group will release concrete plans in the coming days and weeks.
Banner photo: The Fredericton stakeholder group gathers for a Zoom meeting. Image: submitted.