Consultants, DAA Stratégies, have been working with the Queens Revitalization Steering Committee since October, taking community input, validating the ideas, determining actions and presenting tools to both assess and measure future community efforts.
Over the past summer and fall, the Steering Committee met with focus groups and stakeholders around each of the Three Pillars of Health & Wellness, Academic Research & Development and Arts & Culture. Many people in the area and beyond had an “aha moment” when they realized the breadth and depth of the assets Queens has under the three pillars.
“This Strategy is a celebration of our community and all that it has to offer. Together we can work to build on our assets and make Queens an even greater place to work, live and play,” says Mayor Christopher Clarke.
The Region of Queens Municipality has partnered in this initiative with the South Queens Chamber of Commerce, with support from the North Queens Board of Trade and some funding from Nova Scotia Economic & Rural Development and Tourism.
“It is exciting that the community has come together and built a common vision, as a foundation to attract new businesses, investors, residents and visitors,” says South Queens Chamber of Commerce President, Barry Tomalin.
Louis Grenier, Senior Consultant in Economic Development with DAA Stratégies says, “Queens is a uniquely beautiful place and we have been so impressed by how the community has come together to reinvent themselves in the face of a dramatically changing economic landscape. This report is the tip of the iceberg and a lot of hard work lies ahead. With community buy-in and an entrepreneurial spirit to take these ideas forward, there is every reason to believe that this transformation will be a success”.
