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Township of Lake of Bays
Economic Development Strategy Summit Backgrounder and Workbook
Prepared by:
July 2017
Township of Lake of Bays Economic Development Strategy
Summit Backgrounder and Workbook
Prepared by: McSweeney & Associates
McSweeney & Associates 201 - 900 Greenbank Road
Ottawa, Ontario CANADA K2J 1S8
Phone: 1-855-300-8548 Fax: 1-866-299-4313
Email: [email protected] Website: www.mcsweeney.ca
Township of Lake of Bays | Economic Development Strategy Summit Workbook
McSweeney & Associates | July 2017
Table of Contents
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1
2 Statistical Overview ..................................................................................................... 2
3 Consultation Process (To Date) .................................................................................... 5
4 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Overview .................................... 6
5 Community Strategy Draft Themes and Questions ...................................................... 7
Township of Lake of Bays | Economic Development Strategy Summit Workbook
McSweeney & Associates | July 2017 | Page 1
1 Introduction This workbook includes the summary of the findings from the background research (strategic document review, statistics and data analysis, situational analysis) and stakeholder consultation (interviews, online survey, focus groups) portion of the Lake of Bays Economic Development Strategy process. The information contained in this report will be used as part of the Lake of Bays Economic Development Strategy Summit to help the Summit participants prepare for the session.
Township of Lake of Bays | Economic Development Strategy Summit Workbook
McSweeney & Associates | July 2017 | Page 2
2 Statistical Overview
Township of Lake of Bays | Economic Development Strategy Summit Workbook
McSweeney & Associates | July 2017 | Page 3
Township of Lake of Bays | Economic Development Strategy Summit Workbook
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Township of Lake of Bays | Economic Development Strategy Summit Workbook
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3 Consultation Process (To Date)
Method Outcomes
130 Online Surveys
Strategic Documents Review
10 One-on-one
Interviews, Focus Groups
Situational Analysis (including a SWOT)
Stakeholder Summit
Township of Lake of Bays | Economic Development Strategy Summit Workbook
McSweeney & Associates | July 2017 | Page 6
4 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Overview
Strengths
People living in Lake of Bays
Quality of life (quiet, spacious, natural)
Natural environment (land, forests, water)
Tourists (Cottagers)
Strong volunteer culture
Good infrastructure (roads)
Proximity to the GTA
Three communities to pool resources
Long-term stable resident population
Proximity to hospital and health care services
Weaknesses
Poor high-speed Internet.
Limited available work force.
Not yet Investment Ready
Land use planning and development challenges.
Limited housing types/options
Seasonal economy
Limited variety of businesses
Communications
Lack of branding and image
Lack of succession planning as youth drains Types of local employment available
Opportunities
Improving broadband
Becoming more investment ready
Servicing a tourist economy
Becoming a more cohesive business community
Housing and accommodations/transportation
Coordinated marketing and branding
Workforce development through training and apprenticeship programs
Entrepreneurship development
Threats
Lack of community identity/vision
"Not open for Business” image
Youth outmigration/unemployment
Seasonal economy
Lack of labour force education and training
Lack of tourism infrastructure
Restrictive government policies - Home-based business policies, Secondary residence
restrictions
"not in my back yard" mentality
Township of Lake of Bays | Economic Development Strategy Summit Workbook
McSweeney & Associates | July 2017 | Page 7
5 Community Strategy Draft Themes and Questions The following pages depict the five (5) major Strategic themes identified from the analysis and consultation work completed to this point of the project. Your role as a summit participant will be to work within these themes to identify and formulate various actions to help guide Lake of Bays economic development efforts as they move toward a more prosperous future.
Township of Lake of Bays | Economic Development Strategy Summit Workbook
McSweeney & Associates | July 2017 | Page 8
Business Support and Development
Small business in a community typically accounts for the majority of the total economic activity. The bulk of economic activity within Lake of Bays is generated through existing small businesses. There is an opportunity for the Township to provide support to existing businesses while also helping entrepreneurs start, expand or grow a business. Questions to consider:
• Who are some of the local and regional partners involved in offering
business support programs (i.e.? Entrepreneurship, business start-up
and expansion, etc.)?
• Is there a support system in place to help existing businesses? Are there
additional actions that can be undertaken to help existing businesses
improve how they do business?
• Are there entrepreneurship programs in place to help new start-up
businesses or people with ideas start their own business? How can
these programs be better communicated and promoted?
• Is there funding available in Lake of Bays for business start-ups
(entrepreneurs) and existing businesses looking to expand?
• Are there additional supports needed? If so what are they?
• Is Lake of Bays Open for Business? If not, what actions need to occur to
make Lake of Bays more business friendly?
• Does Lake of Bays have the most competitive home-based business
policies to support home-based businesses?
• Does Lake of Bays have the proper infrastructure (i.e. Land, buildings,
broadband, etc.) to support the growth of their business community?
Township of Lake of Bays | Economic Development Strategy Summit Workbook
McSweeney & Associates | July 2017 | Page 9
Community Infrastructure
This is often the nuts and bolts of municipal services – the hard infrastructure (water and sewer, roads, signage, sidewalks, parks, recreation facilities, library) and soft services (recreational programming, youth and senior’s programs and garbage collection). These assets and services have helped shape the community into what it is today. It is important to consider community infrastructure (e.g. buildable land, roads, Broadband, community halls) not only as community building blocks, but also as economic assets. Questions to consider:
• What actions need to occur for Lake of Bays to solve their
affordable/accessible Broadband issues?
• Outside of solving the Broadband puzzle what other pieces of
infrastructure are needed to help support the Lake of Bays economy?
• Are there areas of Lake of Bays that have extra service capacity (i.e.
Water and sewer) to help support business expansion?
• Are there areas of Lake of Bays that are more suitable for businesses
locations? Do these areas have the required infrastructure? If not what
types of services and infrastructure are needed?
Township of Lake of Bays | Economic Development Strategy Summit Workbook
McSweeney & Associates | July 2017 | Page 10
Communications, Marketing & Branding
Made up of several unique communities, Lake of Bays has a special small town feel about it. Often Lake of Bays is looked upon as its individual pieces and not a unified community. Challenges of geographical separation make it difficult to connect with your neighboring hamlet and there are some opportunities to improve how businesses within Lake of Bays communicate and market. What is Lake of Bays? How do people and businesses interact and communicate with each other? How should the outside world view Lake of Bays? Questions to consider:
• What can be done to better connect the various businesses and
organizations that make up Lake of Bays?
• How can the Lake of Bays business community better
communicate with each other?
• Are there actions that can be undertaken to improve how the
Lake of Bays businesses communicate with each other?
• Can the marketing efforts supporting the Lake of Bays businesses
be improved? How?
• Is the Lake of Bays a brand? What is the brand? Does Lake of
Bays need a brand?
Township of Lake of Bays | Economic Development Strategy Summit Workbook
McSweeney & Associates | July 2017 | Page 11
Tourism
Tourism is one of the major drivers of the Lake of Bays’ economy. This includes servicing the traveling public as well as the seasonal and local residents and encompasses several local/regional activities such as food and accommodations, retail, festivals and special events, arts, culture and heritage attractions, special attractions, outdoor recreation and other related services such as construction and property maintenance. Lake of Bays is also on the doorstep of one of Ontario’s most visited tourist attractions – Algonquin Park.
Questions to consider:
• What can be done to help grow, diversify and strengthen this
sector?
• Are there actions that can be undertaken by the Township to help
existing tourism businesses do business?
• What can be done to better identify tourism (business)
opportunities in Lake of Bays?
• How can Lake of Bays tourism products (businesses) be better
marketed and promoted?
• Are there linkages that can be made to better coordinate the
tourism activities in Lake of Bays?
Township of Lake of Bays | Economic Development Strategy Summit Workbook
McSweeney & Associates | July 2017 | Page 12
Workforce Development, Retention and Attraction
This is literally all about people. Businesses cannot operate without staff. Traditionally the Lake of Bays economy has relied on a seasonal workforce to provide the horsepower to several businesses. In more recent years, issues of retention and attraction of labour have become serious issues that could potentially impact the Lake of Bays economy. Labour shortages, the absence of youth labour force, issues sourcing skilled and unskilled labour are topics that are not necessarily unique to Lake of Bays but potentially could have some major consequences on the local economy. Questions to consider:
• What actions are currently being undertaken to address workforce development issues?
• What can the business community do to help address workforce issues?
• What can the Township do to help address workforce issues? • Are there other partners in the region that can help? • Is it a housing issue or a transportation issue? How can the issues
of housing and transportation be overcome to help address workforce issues?
Township of Lake of Bays | Economic Development Strategy Summit Workbook
McSweeney & Associates | July 2017 | Page 13
Other questions to think about…
1. My ideal Lake of Bays economy looks like…
2. The one thing I can do to make Lake of Bays a better place is…
3. The one thing the Township can do to make Lake of Bays a
better place to do business is…