Gillingham Proposes New Growth Office to Make Winnipeg More Investment-Ready
Scott Gillingham is making faster service for business and better preparation for major investment a key part of his re-election campaign, proposing a new Winnipeg Growth Office to keep infrastructure projects shovel-ready, cut through City Hall bottlenecks and bring key economic development and infrastructure staff together under a Chief Growth Officer.
“New investment – large and small, public or private – often goes to cities that can say ‘yes’ faster than the others,” Gillingham said. “Winnipeg must be shovel-ready to grow to a million people, and to get there we need to bring scattered people and plans together into a single unit at City Hall.”
Over the last four years, Gillingham and City Council have focused much of their attention on catching up on major infrastructure needs that had been deferred for decades – like finally servicing the City portion of CentrePort Canada and building the North End Water Pollution Control Centre.
“We need an economic and infrastructure team at City Hall that can work across silos, jump ahead to the next opportunity and be ready to move when an investor or another level of government comes to the table,” Gillingham said.
The new Winnipeg Growth Office (Winnipeg GO) and Chief Growth Officer would report to the CAO and consolidate key City staff responsible for supporting economic growth and major investment.
“For years, I have advocated for senior economic development leadership at City Hall because growth doesn’t fit neatly within one department,” said Chris Lorenc, President & CEO of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association. “It depends on infrastructure, planning, permitting, transportation and investment all moving in the same direction. A dedicated Growth Office can help connect those pieces, remove barriers and make sure Winnipeg is ready when opportunities come knocking. With the uncertainty in global trade and investment today, that kind of focused leadership is more important than ever.”
“Winnipeg GO will do for business and city growth what our housing team did to deliver record housing growth,” Gillingham said. “Bring the right people together, give them a clear mandate and focus on getting things done.”
Key functions of the office would include:
Keeping Winnipeg Investment-Ready for Major Projects. Maintain an inventory of shovel-ready priority infrastructure projects with current designs and cost estimates, so Winnipeg can give other governments a quick “yes” when funding opportunities become available.
Working with Manitoba’s New Economic Development Agency. Work closely with Winnipeg Economic Development & Tourism as it transitions into a new provincewide economic development agency. Close coordination between the City and economic development agencies will be essential to secure investment and facilitate growth.
Growth Leadership. In support of Manitoba’s new approach to economic development, designated City “growth leaders” would identify bottlenecks and drive process reforms for sectors like the Sky Economy, track inventories of investment-ready land and push forward projects critical for medium and large investors.
Improving Service to Small Business. Develop a “311 for Small Business” style of service to get business questions resolved quickly by human case managers who can help navigate City processes.
Bringing an Economic Lens to Decision-Making. Too many City reports exclude important economic information such as tax impacts, investment and opportunities for local job creation. Winnipeg GO would be empowered to raise these issues throughout City processes. The existing Business Improvement Zone Liaison position, now located in Planning, Property and Development, would also move to the Growth Office to advocate for BIZ priorities across City Hall.
Gillingham said at least 80 per cent of the new unit would be formed through redeployments, with a maximum of six new full-time positions focused on improving service to small business.