Looking at PKED record on jobs

If Peterborough’s economic development agency isn’t enticing enough new employers here, it might be because city council set things up that way.

Coun. Dean Pappas, who got his wish for a review of how Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development (PKED) agency goes about its business, will remember how that came about.

Three years ago, former mayor Daryl Bennett got his wish when council supported new marching orders for the agency.

Bennett, a successful business owner himself, believed what a lot of figures show: that most new local jobs come from expansion of existing business and industry, not from newcomers.

Council agreed PKED would devote 75 per cent of economic development effort to supporting local businesses and helping them grow.

The question this council will have to ask following review of how PKED and other players in the jobcreation sector operate is whether a new direction is needed.

Based on preliminary council discussion Monday night, a change could happen.

Coun. Pappas, who was not one of ex-mayor Bennett’s biggest fans, is concerned new jobs are not arriving nearly as fast as old ones are disappearing. The final closure of GE Peterborough last year was cited as an example.

Mayor Diane Therrien took exception to the GE reference, but seems to be onside with a focus on new jobs.

Therrien pointed out that traditional heavy industries like GE have been closing all across North America for decades. The way forward, she said, is to bring in “jobs of the future.”

Should that mean shifting from the current 75:25 effort ratio? One thing a review should show is whether PKED is actually following that marching order. It does seem to be.

Current CEO Rhonda Keenan was hired to run the agency right at the time Bennett changed the organization’s direction. Previous CEOs had been “star” hires expected to produce electrifying results, but didn’t. Keenan was selected with more of a nod to management and organizational skills, less whiz bang.

She has worked closely with the new Cleantech Commons development at Trent University, but Cleantech has its own experienced economic development staff who are chasing new businesses for the emerging research park.

Local focus was a departure from past practice and those “star” CEOs.

In the 30-plus years since city hall first joined the economic development game, efforts ping-ponged between the latest and hottest “emerging sectors” — as they were known in ec-dev speak.

Robotics, nuclear technology, aviation, high-tech food processing, entrepreneurial startups ... the list of “target” sectors that were going to make Peterborough a prosperous hub of cutting-edge industry is long and varied.

None of that worked. Money was spent, sometimes quite a bit of money, but no hubs appeared.

The current major economic development effort in the city and county seems to be on the right track. Cleantech Commons is based on “green” expertise that already exists at Trent and is well on the way to having real, job-producing tenants.

However, there is no harm in a review.

City taxpayers contribute $1 million a year to fund PKED and county taxpayers another $700,000, and politicians should be part of the value-for-money conversation.

A look at what has resulted from PKED’s work, which is mostly supportive but does involve some search for growth industries, would ensure a more informed debate on whether change is needed.