GUYSBOROUGH — With new economic opportunities multiplying in the area, the Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG) is embarking on a new “opportunity readiness program” to help communities make the most of their advantages, says Warden Vernon Pitts.
“It is important that [we are] aware of the opportunities that are in front of us and [that communities] have input into all the ways that they can benefit from these opportunities,” he told The Journal in an email last week.
According to the MODG Facebook page, the “new community readiness program aims to find ways to promote development and pinpoint key investments that can be made to ensure that all communities in the municipality benefit the most from new renewable energy projects and other large-scale development opportunities. The program also includes ways to attract new residents through these projects, thereby growing the local population.”
Noting that community feedback is essential to ensure that the program “aligns with the interests and priorities of community members and other key partners,” it asks residents to take a 10-minute, online survey to capture their “views on the opportunities, challenges and things the municipality has been good at over the years that can be expanded to grow the population and improve the overall living conditions for residents.”
The survey asks for feedback on the most important areas for economic development, key challenges for small businesses to establish themselves and grow in our communities, and what strategic investments the municipality could make to ensure that communities are prepared to capitalize on the economic benefits of new and future developments.
The program is the latest initiative in the MODG’s broad effort to guide the area’s economic development over the next several years.
In May, the municipality hired Halifax economic research firm ATN Strategies under a six-month contract ($170,160) to generate strategies for evaluating the potential of several large-scale industrial developments, “including multiple renewable energy projects throughout the municipality.”
Last month, MODG and the Guysborough District Business Partnership jointly hired community planner Fathom Studio of Dartmouth to develop a new MODG Guysborough-Shiretown Revitalization Plan, including Main Street and the waterfront.
Said Pitts: “The municipality is looking at maximizing the economic and social benefits from both the onshore and offshore wind opportunities, together with other economic development opportunities, that are on the horizon... More importantly, we want the community to consider [these on] both the economic and social side.”
The survey is available here: https://survey.mqoresearch.com/SE/2/MODG/. Answers are due by Thursday, Sept. 12.
