On June 6, 2017, Rotarian Bob Black introduced Bill Thompson, the Economic Development Officer from Regional Service Commission 8, that serves the Greater Sussex/Hampton area.
Bill is a lawyer and has served in both the private and public sectors. After the closure of the mine in January 2017, Sussex and District Chamber of Commerce undertook a community engagement process lead by Blair Hyslop.
The Commission hired Bill Thompson...
Bill has an office in the Town Hall, and his task is to work with the community to do business diagnostics, to develop community economic development strategies, to develop a communication plan, to lead an implementation plan, and to provide economic development services on an ongoing basis.
The areas of focus are the following:
- Destination of choice (tourism, arts, culture, retail)
- Geothermal energy
- Food production and processing
- Low-cost energy from insisting natural gas sources
- Warehousing/distribution
- Targeted and aligned retail development
- Focused and aligned training/education
Rotarian Mary McNair thanked Bill for his interesting talk.