Regional development and city branding: UMQ delegation delivers a positive assessment of its economic mission to New York

MONTREAL, June 8, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - A delegation of the Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ) Central Municipalities Caucus has returned fully inspired after participating in an economic mission to New York this week during the City Nation Place Americas international forum.

Caucus chairman, Mayor Jean-Maurice Matte of Senneterre, along with Chibougamau Mayor Manon Cyr and Nicolet Mayor Geneviève Dubois, made the most of their three days of meetings, visits, and conferences with leaders from the Americas to advance their thinking on the power of attraction of municipalities and to learn new ways of achieving their objectives in terms of city branding.

While in New York the UMQ delegation met with elected officials and financial decision-makers, as well as with representaives of the Délégation générale du Québec à New York, the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, the City of New Rochelle, and the Garment District Allaince.

"The mission was very productive and rewarding and gave us the opportunity to familiarize ourselves with best practices for enabling municipalities to stand out, to make themselves distinctive, and to attract not only businesses, workers, and their families, but also public investments and infrastructure projects. We're returning home with some great ideas that are certain to be of interest to our caucus members," Mayor Matte said.

"In a globalized economy, it's more important than ever to differentiate your brand and explain why your municipality or region is the best place to live in, and to invest in, like we did in Chibougamau with our 'Nordic Attitude' positioning. Exchanging information with players from other areas who also had to innovate in meeting the same challenges we faced was particularly inspiring," said Mayor Cyr.

"In recent years, many regions of Quebec have experienced job losses in the public and para-public sectors and because of business closures. These losses have an impact on the socio-economic fabric of our municipalities and weaken our dynamic land occupancy. The examples and case studies that were presented at the forum provided us with some very interesting ways of reversing this trend," Mayor Dubois said.

A detailed report on the mission will be presented in September at the next central municipalities caucus meeting.

About the UMQ central municipalities caucus
The UMQ central municipalities caucus consists of urban municipalities within the territory of Quebec that have a strongly central character. The role of the caucus, which includes some 60 municipalities, is to assert the predominant role of central municipalities as hubs of social and economic development for their residents and the rural municipalities in their region.

The voice of local government 
Since its founding in 1919, the UMQ has represented municipalities of every size in every region of Quebec. The UMQ mission is to provide provincial leadership for effective, autonomous local governments and uphold the fundamental role of those elected to municipal office. UMQ members represent over 80% of the population and land area of Quebec and are grouped into affinity caucuses: local municipalities, central municipalities, regional cities, major cities, and municipalities in the Montreal metropolis.

SOURCE Union des municipalités du Québec