New North Bay Mayor Vic Fedeli intends to create a “lean and mean” community development corporation (CDC) to market the city’s vacant industrial land.
The CDC is expected to be modeled after the community’s highly successful Air Base Property Corp. (ABPC), and Fedeli expects to unveil the CDC sometime in January or February as an independent body separate from city hall.
“Our own version (of a CDC) will have some capacity to do some types of bonusing of industrial land if necessary,” says Fedeli. “Economists agree that investment by municipalities in industrial companies is where the pay-off comes.”
Fedeli made waves in early December by announcing the immediate disbanding of the city’s economic development commission barely a day after being sworn in, and creating the mayor’s office of economic development, headed by himself and members of city council.
Retiring chief administrative officer Tim Sheffield was replaced with David Linkie, the city’s managing director of community services.
Tops on his list of CDC priorities is finding tenants and selling off parts of a 50-acre fully-serviced industrial park in North Bay’s south end that has remained empty for 20 years. Fedeli blames that on a lack of marketing.
In forming his mayor’s commission, Fedeli found incoming prospects appreciated dealing face-to-face with city decision makers, and says it should speed up the economic development process.
