The Northern Economic Development and Initiatives (NEDI) Committee is pleased to bring Michael Shuman, one of North America's leading experts on community economics, to speak in Lillooet on February 27th.
The event will take place at the Lillooet REC Centre with the program running from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. and refreshments will be served; people are encouraged to come early to mix and mingle. Admission is free.
The event is being made possible through funding provided by the Northern Development Initiative Trust with several local businesses and community groups stepping up to provide support.
The event will be a great opportunity for citizens, small businesses and community groups from across the region to learn more about local ownership, community self-reliance, local investment strategies, regional supply chains, and how to "plug the leaks" to create a more vibrant regional economy.
This high profile speaking engagement marks the beginning of the NEDI Committee’s 2014 Community Economic Development (CED) activities. Following the completion of an Economic Development Strategy in 2012, the NEDI Committee identified several priorities to assist in strengthening the regional economy. In December 2013, the Fraser Basin Council was hired to oversee these activities which include:
- Conducting a feasibility study to determine the best governance model for regional economic development;
- Carrying out a community visioning process;
- Developing a comprehensive inventory of the community’s assets; and
- Generating an economic leakage analysis to determine where money is leaking out of the local economy and to identify strategies for plugging the leaks.
As work on these initiatives moves forward, there will be many opportunities for citizens, businesses and community groups from around the region to get involved, learn more about CED, ask questions, provide feedback, and contribute new ideas. A series of community information and visioning sessions will take place this spring with the goal of engaging people from across the sub-region in the process of creating a shared vision of success and charting a course for further action.
About Michael Shuman
Michael Shuman is Director for Research and Economic Development for the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). He is an economist, attorney, author and entrepreneur and one of North America’s leading experts on community economics and the advantages of small-scale business. Shuman advocates that economic localization offers the key to solving a growing number of global problems, including peak oil, climate disruption, and financial meltdowns. He has led community-based economic development efforts across North America and has authored, coauthored or edited eight books and written nearly 100 published articles. His most recent book is Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Move Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity.
Northern Economic Development and Initiatives Committee
Jeannette Nadon, Communications and Grants Coordinator