On Sept. 23, City Council unanimously approved a set of 22 recommendations that arose from the Red Tape Red Carpet Task Force initiative. I am thrilled with the positive response and support of my fellow council members, as well as the encouraging feedback I’ve received from the business community afterwards.
Immediately following the news, key stakeholders and leaders quickly mobilized to begin the work of implementation. Some recommendations will be quick wins, and others will take some time. We are committed to staying transparent and accountable to you along the way and, to support that, we have now launched an online dashboard where you can see the status and track the progress of each recommendation.
We will be updating this as information changes and as deliverables are completed.
I encourage you to visit the dashboard, explore what we are working on, and stay informed and engaged as we go.
Our main Red Tape Red Carpet Task Force website has also been updated to include a way for you to provide ongoing feedback when you experience obstacles or, ideally, when you notice improvements you’d like to be sure we know about.
Those comments will go directly to our newly designated Customer Experience Manager – Business Development. Mike Greenlee is presently in the role in an interim capacity as we work on a permanent hire. I am pleased with how Mike has already been able to provide timely support and clarity to some of our businesses and developers over the past month, and I’ve heard great feedback from those with whom he has interacted.
Some of the recent successes we’re already celebrating include Endress+Hauser breaking ground on their new 47,000-square-foot Customer Experience Centre. City Council is continuing to leverage Endress+Hauser’s industry expertise to learn how the city can support top employers to locate and grow in Burlington.
Burlington also rolled out the red carpet for local companies to better access talent with the launch of the Mohawk Industry and Employer website: https://www.mohawkcollege.ca/industry-and-employers.
My colleagues on City Council and I are also enjoying ongoing networking with the business community and acting as our community’s Chief Salespeople. For example, Ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith and I welcomed a delegation of Turkish electrical companies in September. In addition, earlier this month, Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns welcomed more than 300 guests to the Equation Angels Launch event, bringing together angel investors and investee companies from across southern Ontario.
I look forward to continuing to keep you informed along this journey and, as always, appreciate the role each of you has played – and continue to play – in our ongoing evolution.
— Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward
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*Posted by John Bkila, Mayor’s Media and Digital Communications Specialist.
