In order for a community to grow, economic development needs to continue to flourish.
The way we bring visitors and potential residents into the community is through our commerce and employment opportunities.
Without these vital parts, people would not be able to access their products and wares, making it nearly impossible to live here. It would also be impossible to live here without affordable housing, well-paying jobs, and employees to help those businesses function.
This is an issue Golden is facing at this time. We have too many visitors in town, and the hospitality and service industry is having a difficult time accommodating the influx of people. A lack of employees is only the tip of the iceberg. Anyone who might want to move to Golden will struggle to find housing. Even rooms for rent are few and far between these days.
A few community groups have suggested that an economic development manager would help sort out these issues and help network businesses and organizations together.
Maybe that isn’t the most appropriate name for the job. Maybe we could call it a community development manager, and have them liaise between businesses, community groups, and marketers.
There is a plethora of different ways we could use someone who functions to assist in economic development, as well as supporting other services in the community.
As it stands, the Town of Golden has a number of employees who are responsible for economic development, but they might not focus on the personal growth of our local businesses as much as we would like. It would be great for the Town of Golden to create a position under their umbrella that focuses on the betterment of our community. Someone who works tirelessly to bring everyone together and keep them informed, and helps them in areas they require.
Already, we have the Chamber of Commerce in town, which works as a business network. They are currently working on a report that will identify key issues affecting our community. They are asking the Town to come up with a solution, but it could be time to look at a broader scope, scooping up all of the resources in town, and dedicating one person to ensure they are all working in cooperation with each other.
There are so many resources in Golden, it would be amazing to see how these businesses and organizations could share with each other to help. One of the best things about living in a small community is the amount of neighbourly support we show for each other, but we can’t do that if we don’t know where to look or how to help.
