$90M injected into fund to create jobs, attract investment

A $90-million boost is headed for a fund designed to create jobs, drive economic recovery and revitalize the downtown core, following a council vote Monday afternoon.

City council voted 13-1 in favour of allocating $90 million for the Economic Development Investment Fund, six months after council set aside $10 million from its rainy-day fund to create the pot of money amid the ongoing downturn.

The approval of the $90 million, which will come from three separate reserve funds, means it’s now up to Calgary Economic Development to outline a governance structure and terms of reference for the fund by early next year.

It’s expected the $100-million fund will allow Calgary to compete nationally and internationally to attract needed economic investment, amid a high unemployment rate and a downtown where the equivalent of one in four office towers sit empty.

“It’s truly an all hands on deck moment in our economic history,” said Jim Gray, longtime businessman and fund steering committee member, before Monday’s vote.

“If we don’t manage this challenge with energy, with resources, with commitment and skill, then this challenge is going to manage us — to our great detriment.”

Mary Moran, president and CEO of Calgary Economic Development, said the fund committee will strive to leverage funds from other orders of government and the private sector to add to the $100-million pot.

While Ward 2 Coun. Joe Magliocca expressed concerns about the city handing out a massive blank cheque, Moran said that’s simply not the case.

“This is still the city’s money, that CED will shepherd and steward and hopefully match it to opportunities,” Moran said.

Ward 13 Coun. Jeromy Farkas was the single vote against giving the $90 million, while Ward 4 Coun. Sean Chu was absent from Monday’s meeting.

Farkas expressed concerns about where the funding was coming from, while his colleagues spoke in passionate favour about the fund.

“The amount of money is still random, we don’t know where it’s going and we don’t know where it’s coming from,” Farkas said.

Ward 1 Coun. Ward Sutherland said other cities that have initiated similar funds have started at the $100-million mark.

“Maybe that’s not the right amount, but we’re not going to know until we start. We have to pick a starting point,” he said.

“What we’re talking about here today is business, and the one thing about business is nothing is guaranteed. There’s always risk.”

Ward 14 Coun. Peter Demong admitted $90 million was “a lot of money,” but said in the context of Calgary’s overall operating budget, it’s a tiny amount.

“This is something we really need to do. We are in a completely new world,” he said. “We have to be nimble. We have to be able to attract industries to our city.”

Ward 8 Coun. Evan Woolley praised the fund as a way to diversify the economy, leverage private and public sector investment and create employment lands.

“We need to be bold in our thinking and in our actions, not only in attracting companies here but in retaining the jobs that we do have,” he said.

It’s expected the fund could be used for initiatives such as developing post-secondary campuses downtown, building an agri-zone in Calgary, converting empty office space to rental apartments and turning Calgary into a test-bed for driverless vehicles.