COMOX VALLEY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SOCIETY 2018 Spring Update Town of Comox May 9, 2018

2017 Q4 Highlights Small Business Support Destination Marketing Communications BC Seafood Festival, Expo & Buyers Mission 2018 Q1 Highlights Economic Development Strategy 2017 Q4 Highlights

SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESS / CLIENT SERVICES Total Small Business Reach 823 Information/Referrals Provided 75 Individualized Business Plan Assistance 30 Business Site Visits 43 Workshops Hosted 16 (325 attendees) Seafood Expo Registrants 350 DOWNTOWN INTERACTIVE MAP Current Opportunities Profiled 13 Developments Highlighted 42 Unique Pageviews (partial year) 935 WEBSITE UNIQUE PAGEVIEWS BusinessComoxValley.com 7,574 Events page 1,402 Resources pages 3,164 Start a business pages 895 Contact us/Staff directory page 922 SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT

DESTINATION MARKETING 2017 Visitor Centre True Visitors: +8% 2017 Hotel Tax (MRDT): +14% Grant and Private Sector Leveraging: $350k+   WINTERFEST/AWESOME ALL WINTER CAMPAIGN: Après events presented: 50 Digital and Social Media Clicks: 71,581 Unique Page Views: 20,185 New Social Media Fans/Followers: 1,774 TV Contest Entries: 9,963 Jan. MRDT: 4%+ BC SEAFOOD FESTIVAL: Digital and Social Media Clicks: 91,148 Unique Page Views: 159k New Social Media Fans/Followers: 16k+ TV Contest Entries: 9,500 June MRDT: +19% DESTINATION MARKETING

DESTINATION MARKETING OUTDOOR CAMPAIGN: Unique Page Views: 27,193 Digital and Social Media Clicks: 9,848 New Social Media Fans/Followers: 2,135 Jul. – Sep. MRDT: +15%   TWO WHEELS / FARM CYCLE TOUR CAMPAIGN: True Visitor Parties: 2,009 Digital and Social Media Clicks: 8,700 New Social Media Fans/Followers: 1,717 Riders/Cyclists: 800 MRDT: +46% DESTINATION MARKETING

COMMUNICATIONS EARNED MEDIA & Communications Outreach Earned Media: $1.5m+ Local Government Presentations: 6 BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY E-NEWS New contact added to database 10,900+ Tourism Industry 8 Consumer 55 Expo 19 Business 16 SOCIAL MEDIA Social Media management platform & new user manual implemented Twitter @ComoxValley followers: 2,232 (+5%) Twitter @VIVisitorCentre followers: 15,786 (+46%) Facebook CVEDS followers: 1297 (+24%) Facebook VIVisitorCentre followers: 2006 (+40%) Instagram new followers 300+ COMMUNICATIONS

BC SEAFOOD FESTIVAL & EXPO Friday June 15: New - Shucked! Canada’s Largest Oyster Bar Happy Hour Gala Dinner Saturday June 16 Expanded - BC Seafood Festival Signature Weekend Day Events New - Baked n’ Boiled! Kitchen Party Clam Bake Live! Filberg Park Open-Air Concert  Sunday June 17 Bounty! A Brunch Seafood Cook-out BC Seafood Festival Signature Weekend Day Events EXPO June 11 – 12 - Native Sons, Florence Filberg & Sid Theatre venues Program Partners include; BC Salmon Farmers Association, BC Shellfish Growers Association, Fish Safe BC, Pacific Organic Salmon Association, Excel Career College, Ministry of Jobs, Trade & Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Bioenterprise BC International Buyers Reception - June 11 International Buyers Delegation (est. 30-40) – Producer site tours, meetings and event attendance; June 11-16 BC SEAFOOD FESTIVAL & EXPO

2018 Q1 Highlights Export Navigator Program Renewed Online Tech Database Tool Development BC Seafood Festival, Expo, & Buyers Mission development All Winter / WinterFest Campaign Destination BC Cooperative Marketing Collaboration 2018 Q1 Highlights

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 5 YEAR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY Process Considerations Launch process in mid-2018 Completion by March 31, 2019 Strong focus on ag, tech & innovation Definition of economic development Update Appendix B High level of collaboration & stakeholder engagement Appendix C - Strat Plan Process Review of governance and further integration with local government i.e. new CVRD building ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

THANK YOU & QUESTIONS PRESENTATIONS AND UPDATES LOCAL GOVERNMENT April 10 Comox Valley Regional District April 16 City of Courtenay May 9 Town of Comox May 24 CVEDS 2017 AGM – 40 Knots Vineyard and Estate Winery Keynote Speakers; Josie Osborne, Mayor of Tofino Dr. Jonathan Page, Anandia Labs Sarb Mund, Commissary Connect