Morice Land and Resource Management Plan
What is Economic Development?
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- First Nations Involvement in Economic Development
- EDAP Process Description
- Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis
What is Economic Development?There are many definitions used to explain what economic development is. Definitions of economic development differ depending on the scale and focus that a community or region chooses. The following definition describes how economic development can differ. Economic development is a program, a group of policies, or activity that seeks to improve the economic well-being and quality of life for a community. Ideally, it will create and retain jobs that facilitate growth and provide a stable tax base. Economic development programs can take numerous approaches. No single strategy, policy, or program can assure success for a community. Some communities will succeed while others will have to develop their assets to become marketable. In order to create an effective program that works for the local economy, the community must understand the five levels of development. Each level consists of various strategies that can be implemented based on their geography, economy and policies. The five levels are: organizational development, product development, market development, business development, and workforce development (Forman and Mooney 1999). While this definition refers to a community the Morice LRMP can be seen as one large community of inter-dependant local governments. Organizational development involves the creation and maintenance of a group, or groups, of individuals who address community needs. Product development deals with the investment of funds or labor to improve a community. Market development focuses on attracting individuals that are able to build a stronger and diversified population base. Business development promotes existing businesses and/or attracts new businesses to a community. Finally, workforce development involves strengthening the local workforce through local and or regional policies. First Nations Involvement in Economic DevelopmentThe Morice District is not unlike any other district in Northwest British Columbia when it comes to the role First Nations play in the economy. From the first years of European settlement in the area the Wet’suwet’en, Lake Babine, Carrier and Cheslatta peoples have provided labour, raw materials and other products that have assisted in the growth of the regional economy. More recently, the First Nations have been developing their own economic initiatives. The Office of the Wet’suwet’en has developed several ventures in cooperation with the forest industry, these include Kyah Wood and Wet’suwet’en Enterprises. Kyah Wood holds a non-replaceable timber license in the plan area and Wet’suwet’en Enterprises has developed integrated forest management expertise and through the small scale salvage program for Mountain Pine beetle. The Wet’suwet’en are currently completing a needs assessment for all their communities and are extremely interested in promoting cross-cultural understanding, probably through eco-cultural tourism. There are no year round communities within the plan area, although 53% of the territory lies within the area. Lake Babine Nation has several economic initiatives including Woodlots at Fort Babine, west of Granisle, and Old Fort. They are also working on a community forest proposal and undertaking a market feasibility study for ecotourism. Tachet and Fort Babine are the only year round communities within the plan area. Only small portions of the Carrier Nation and Cheslatta Nation territories fall within the plan area. Their economic initiatives therefore influence other LRMP areas. EDAP Process DescriptionProcess OverviewThe steps followed in creating this EDAP were as follows:
The Vision for Economic Development in the Morice Consisting of individuals from each sector, members of the Economic Development Action Plan Working Group identified a number of views for economic development in the Morice LRMP area. Through two collaborative brainstorming session’s one unified vision for economic development was generated. "The vision for Economic Development in the Morice is to identify potential opportunities for enterprises which would contribute to developing a diversified and sustainable local economy while recognizing present and future cultural, environmental, economic and social values in the region.” Members of the Working Group felt that economic diversification and maintenance and enhancement of the current way of life enjoyed by all residents in the Morice were essential factors when considering potential opportunities to pursue. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) AnalysisA scan of the internal and external environment is an important part of the strategic planning process. Environmental factors internal to a region can be classified as strengths (S) or weaknesses (W), and those external to the region can be classified as opportunities (O) or threats (T). Such an analysis of the strategic environment is referred to as a SWOT Analysis. The SWOT analysis provides information that is helpful in matching a region’s resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates. As such, it is instrumental in strategy formulation and selection. Strengths A region’s strengths are its resource capabilities that can be used as a basis for developing a competitive advantage. Weaknesses The absence of certain strengths may be viewed as a weakness. In some cases, a weakness may be the flip side of strength. Take the case where a region has a large amount of manufacturing capacity. While this capacity may be considered a strength that other regions do not share, it also may be considered a weakness if that manufacturing capacity is out dated and can’t react quickly to changes in the economic environment. Opportunities The external environmental analysis may reveal certain new opportunities for regional profit and growth. Threats Changes in the external environment may also present threats to a region An assessment of each sector’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats assisted in the development of sector specific strategies for economic development in the Morice EDAP. In addition, the SWOT analyses aided in the identification of key opportunities, that could be positively influenced by the LRMP. These opportunities are listed in their respective sector later on in this report. A summary of the SWOT Analysis is presented in Appendix 1. The general economic development strategy, based on the SWOT profile, for the Morice EDAP is to pursue opportunities that are a good fit to the core strengths of the region. Once these opportunities are listed, barriers to their development can be identified. Only those barriers that can be positively influenced by the LRMP are dealt with in this report. The SWOT analyses carried out for the Morice LRMP was well attended by individuals representing a cross section of local communities. At the conclusion of the SWOT analysis exercise one significant observation was made; the majority of individuals attending the exercise felt that tourism opportunities were to become a very influential factor in the future economy of the region. Not to understate the importance of all other sectors, specifically forestry and mining, the fact remained that most people felt that the local environment was very conducive to the development of tourism opportunities. This trend of shifting from an industrial based economy to a tourism-based economy within resource communities has been tried many times before. While not uncommon, it should be noted that such a wholesale shift cannot be accomplished over night, or even at all. The Morice has a wealth of resources from which to draw from. Every sector has potential for growth. With this in mind a diversified economy is the more desired outcome for the Morice area. Download 1.06 Mb. Share with your friends:
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