ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

 

 

 

 

 

TO:

Mayor and Members of Council

 

 

 

 

FROM:

Ted Northcott

Sr. Business Development Officer

 

 

 

 

PREPARED BY:

same as above

 

 

 

 

DATE OF MEETING:

2004-May-03

 

 

 

 

SUBJECT:

2004 Biotech Initiative 

 

 

 

 

RECOMMENDATION:

That the report entitled “2004 Biotech Initiative” be received,

 

And that the Town authorize the Sr. Business Development Officer to participate in the 13th Annual North Carolina Biotech Conference, and related business development initiatives at a total cost not to exceed $3,000 to be funded from within the 2004 base operating budget, Business Travel account #610-9985201,

 

And further that the Town not participate in BIO 2004 in San Francisco.

 

 

DISCUSSION:

In February 2004, Markham Council approved the 2004 Economic Development Marketing Program. Within the approved program was an initiative to send the Sr. Development Officer to San Francisco in June 2004 to attend BIO 2004, the largest annual biotech conference in North America.

 

It was assumed that Markham’s attendance at BIO 2004 would be as a member of a consortium of Ontario municipalities and possibly York University. As a team, Markham would seek to achieve higher profile at the conference through a shared display exhibit and/or a formal reception for conference delegates. Unfortunately, through protracted discussions with other municipalities and the Province it has become apparent that Markham would have to proceed on its own in all of these initiatives. The resulting higher cost and inability to reserve appropriate space now renders the BIO 2004 conference unsuitable for Markham’s purpose. Economic Development staff would not recommend that Markham spend the time and money only to “walk the show”.

 

Instead, Economic Development staff recommend that the marketing funds assigned to the BIO 2004 conference in San Francisco be redeployed to a more productive and less costly intitiative. On May 26 and 27, the North Carolina Biotech Centre will be hosting its 13th Annual Biotech Conference at the Research Triangle Park (see Attachment One). In addition to the 2-day conference program, the NC Department of Commerce and the Canadian Consul General in Raleigh will be hosting a special program for economic developers attending the conference from Ottawa and London, Ontario.

 

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

The cost of this initiative totals $3,000 and includes:

 

            Airfare and ground transportation          $1,500

            2 nights hotel and meals                        $750

            Conference fees                                    $250

            Marketing expense                               $500

 

The $3,000 is to be funded from within the 2004 Business Travel account #610-9985201. This is in contrast to the approved $7,500 budgeted to attend BIO 2004 in San Francisco. The unspent $4,500 will be retained in the Business Travel account to fund 2004 marketing initiatives.

 

 

ATTACHMENTS:

  1. Conference agenda and pricing.

 

 

 

 

______________________________                                            __________________________

Stephen Chait                                                                                   John Livey

Director of Economic Development                                                   Chief Administrative Officer