Open for business?

Hamilton's economic development department has existed for years as the lost orphan inside the city's vast bureaucratic maze.

Everybody has talked about how lovely and needed the department is to the future of the city, but nobody - politicians, city staff, the business community - has wanted to take responsibility for nurturing the department into adulthood.

This week, though, councillors and city management, took a gingerly step forward to infuse the department with some sense of importance. The department will receive, starting in 2008, a much-needed cash infusion of $1.5 million that will go towards boosting its marketing and promotions strategy, hiring eight full-time people and creating an intergovernmental affairs office to lobby higher levels of government.

Even though Mayor Fred Eisenberger, city staff and the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce applauded council's decision as a new era for doing business in Hamilton, the reality is more dour. More here.