Economic development in the Comox Valley
Comox Valley taxpayers spent more than $1.2 million for economic development services in 2019 and provincial taxpayers added another $290,000. Courtenay hotels and small bed and breakfast inns added another $321,000. But did taxpayers get a reasonable return on their investment through the Comox Valley Economic Development Society, a nonprofit run at an arms-length from local government? Decafnation spent several months and conducted nearly 30 interviews in an attempt to answer that question. This series of stories is the result of that investigation.
Relationship issues still plague Economic Development Society in some Comox Valley sectors
Five years after its last regional district performance review, CVEDS still struggles to bolster its reputation among some sectors of the community, and for a variety of issues. Has an ingrained animosity developed?
Neither private or public, Economic Development Society provides limited financial information
Comox Valley taxpayers and elected officials have limited metrics and financial information to assess whether their $1.2 million-plus investment in the Economic Development Society provides a good return
How the Comox Valley formed an Economic Development Society and killed Comox Valley Tourism
A history of the Comox Valley Economic Development Society, including its takeover of Comox Valley Tourism, and what the staff and board members see as the society’s main accomplishments today
Key excerpts from Dennis Strand’s 2007 op-ed about CVEDS
The former chair of a 2002 committee that approved funding for economic development and destination marketing, says it wasn’t his committee’s intention that CVEDS would cut off funding to Comox Valley Tourism
Comox Valley regional directors will decide fate of Economic Development Society
The Comox Valley Regional District board will soon decide whether to renew its $1.2 million annual contract with the Comox Valley Economic Development Society. But with outspoken voices on all sides of this issue, the decision is bound to become controversial