1. _________________________________________
Building Competitive Clusters
in the Columbia Basin-Boundary Region
Association of Kootenay Boundary Local Governments
Rossland, BC
April 26, 2017
Dr. Terri MacDonald
Regional Innovation Chair in Rural Economic Development
Selkirk College

2. Agenda
Our Regional Context (State of the Basin highlights) Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters Workforce Development
Photo Courtesy of MIDAS

4. Demographics

5. Demographics 10 year job openings by educational requirements
Source: BC 2025 Labour Market Outlook

7. Employment rate (%) for BC and by Development Region, 2010 to 2015
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
5 Year Change
( )
1 Year Change
( )
British Columbia
60.7
60.2
60.4
59.8
59.5
-2.0%
0.0%
Vancouver Island and Coast
59.4
56.0
55.8
56.1
54.2
54.6
-8.1%
0.7%
Lower Mainland - Southwest
61.2
61.3
61.4
60.6
60.8
-0.8%
-0.2%
Thompson - Okanagan
58.4
58.9
57.5
58.0
-2.4%
Kootenay
54.7
56.8
58.7
62.1
55.2
56.6
3.5%
2.5%
Cariboo
62.8
64.0
67.0
64.5
67.2
62.4
-0.6%
-7.1%
North Coast & Nechako
64.2
59.1
63.5
4.6%
8.2%
Northeast
72.0
71.8
75.9
74.0
70.1
71.9
-0.1%
2.6%
Employment rates for the province and the Development Regions shows the total employment rates for the province and the development regions from 2010 to 2015, including percent change for five years (2010 to 2015) and one year (2014 to 2015). Within the Columbia Basin-Boundary, the Cariboo has the highest employment rate (62.4%) and the only Development Region in the Columbia Basin-Boundary that was higher than the provincial average (59.5%) in Compared to the other Development Regions, the Cariboo has the third highest employment rate of the seven Development Regions, while the Thompson-Okanagan and Kootenay are fifth and sixth respectively.

8. Kootenay Development Region
Employment by sector (in thousands),
Kootenay Development Region
British Columbia
Sector
2010
2015
5 Year Change
Total, All Industries
68.1
69.0
1.32%
2223.0
2306.2
3.74%
Goods-producing sector
21.5
22.3
3.72%
436.6
459.1
5.15%
Agriculture
0.0 NA
29.7
22.2
-25.25%
Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas
5.3
6.7
26.42%
41.7
48.3
15.83%
Utilities
12.2
14.5
18.85%
Construction
7.5
8.4
12%
198.4
201.5
1.56%
Manufacturing
6.9
-23.19%
154.6
172.5
11.58%
Services-producing sector
46.7
46.8
0.21%
1786.5
1847.2
3.4%
Trade
11.5
11.3
-1.74%
369.4
352.9
-4.47
Transportation & warehousing
2.5 0%
117.7
140.0
18.95%
Finance, insurance, real estate & leasing
2.1
2.6
23.81%
139.8
128.6
-8.01%
Professional, scientific & technical services
19.05%
163.1
188.1
15.33%
Business, building & other support services
3.7
1.7
-54.05%
95.4
93.5
-1.99%
Educational services
2.7
4.3
59.26%
152
163.4
7.5%
Health care & social assistance
8.1
9.2
13.58%
263.8
287.4
8.95%
Information, culture & recreation
2.3
-14.81%
112.1
114.5
2.14%
Accommodation & food services
6.1
-13.11%
172.4
177.5
2.96%
Other services
3.2
28% 96
105.1
9.48%
Public administration
2.0
-25.93%
104.7
96.1
-8.21%
The Labour Force Survey shows overall job growth in the Kootenay Development Region over 5 years (+1.32% or 900 people) (see Table 1). Overall, the Services-producing sector has more jobs across all BC Development Regions. In the Kootenay Development Region between 2010 and 2015, the Goods-producing sector experienced growth (+3.72%), while the Services-producing sector stayed very similar (0.21%). This is somewhat different from the province as a whole where both Goods and Services-producing sectors experienced growth. It is worth noting that the LFS data has a reliability threshold where if numbers are less than 1,500 the numbers cannot be published. As a result, the ‘0.0’ numbers shown in Table 1 are not necessarily zero in reality.

9. Median hourly wage for part-time versus full-time employees), 2010-2015
Full-time employees earn higher median hourly wages than part-time employees as shown in Figure 32. Hourly wages of part-time employees range between 54% and 62% of full-time wages. The difference in the Kootenay Development Region is 54.8%, lower than the provincial (62%), but higher than the national (54.5%). The average full time wage in the Kootenay Development Region ($26.00) is higher than the national and provincial averages. Wage by employment type are also available on the Digital Basin.51

10. Build it and They Will Come
Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters
Economic Development Prevailing Approaches
Open for Business
Big Game Hunting
The Next Big Thing
Build it and They Will Come
Improve the general business climate
Compete aggressively for plants and new investments
Enter new high tech/growth industries
Invest in large infrastructure/industrial zone projects

11. Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters

12. Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters

13. Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters

14. Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters

15. Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters

16. Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters

17. Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters
What are ‘clusters’?
Geographic concentration of interconnected companies, suppliers, service providers, that operate in the same or related industry sectors
Competitiveness but also cooperation between companies
What are ‘cluster initiatives’?
Collaborative activities by a group of companies, public sector entities, and other related institutions with the objective to improve the competitiveness of a group of interlinks economic activities in a specific geographic region
Competitiveness but also cooperation between companies
Involves upgrading of company operations and strategies across a group of companies, upgrading of cluster-specific business environment conditions, and strengthening of networks to enhance spill-overs and other benefits

18. Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters

19. Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters

20. Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters

21. Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters

22. Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters

23. Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters

24. Economic Development & Growing Competitive Clusters

26. Living wage – has been passed by US local governments typically affect only certain groups of workers such as public employees and workers whose employers have government contracts or are receiving economic development subsidies
CBA – between community groups and a developer to set forth a range of community benefits as part of the project e.g. affordable housing, green building practices, parks, childcare centres, etc.
Incentive criteria – ‘low road’ economic dvp strategy of providing tax incentives for businesses to come, expand or not leave
Hire local – could be part of CBAs and incentive criteria
Trade or labour unions – bargain with employers on behalf of their members

28. Examples of Cluster-Focus Strategies

29. Growing Competitive Clusters
Building a 21st Century Workforce
Facilitating Inclusive Access to Quality Jobs
Enhancing and Building Regional Industry-Education-Community Collaborations

30. Regional Cluster Development
Mining & Metals
Forestry
Advanced Manufacturing
Tourism
Technology

31. _________________________________________
Building Competitive Clusters
in the Columbia Basin-Boundary Region
April 26, 2017
Dr. Terri MacDonald
Regional Innovation Chair in Rural Economic Development
Selkirk College