The Council of Northern Economic Developers, a non-profit society focused on developing skills and experience of Yukoners involved in economic development, is hosting a conference in Dawson City September 10-12.
The goals of the conference are to facilitate the sharing of experiences amongst economic development practitioners of what works and does not work, and dialogue around what we are all currently doing for our communities. We are looking forward to participation by development officers in communities and from First Nations, Yukon and the federal government, as well as municipal representatives and consultants.
The keynote speaker is Maury Forman, Senior Manager for the Washington State Department of Commerce. His focus is on creating healthy downtowns and a culture of entrepreneurship in rural communities. He is a popular speaker in Western Canada and the Western US. This is the third conference/workshop organized by CNED with support from the Yukon Government and CanNor. Community speakers will include: Carol Geddes (Teslin), Cory Bellmore (Carmacks), Larry Bagnell (Watson Lake), Philip Fitzgerald (Carcross/Tagish), Mark Wickham (Dawson City) and Tom Lie (Faro). Workshops will include topics such as community revitalization, hubs for collaboration and innovation incubators, ecological principles and the modern economy and Yukon reflections on creating business opportunities.The break-out sessions will be lively and offer choices to delegates. There will be a grand banquet, special sessions and plenty of free time to explore Dawson.
The conference will be accredited through the Economic Developers Association of Canada (EDAC) and will count toward obtaining the Certified Economic Developer (Ec.D) designation. The CNED conference is very affordable, with a low attendance fee and a preferential hotel rate at the Downtown Hotel. Transportation options include an Air North flight, bus or your own automobile. More information is available on the conference website at http://www.cned2014conference.com/
If you are in the north and interested in economic development please consider attending this conference.