Published: March 17, 2009 5:00 PM By Jeremy Deutsch - Kamloops This Week
Gail Scott shown the door after one year as CEO. For the second time in four years, the head of Venture Kamloops (VK) has been fired. Gail Scott, the organization’s CEO, was sacked Friday after only a little more than a year on the job. Her removal comes as VK’s contract with the city is up for renewal this fall. VK said it was good time to let Scott go as the organization develops a new strategic plan during the next few months. “We’re going to take a look at our whole model,” said Chris Ortner, president of VK’s board of directors. He added the previous model was no longer producing results.
Instead, Ortner said the board will look at economic models from around the world to determine what a city the size of Kamloops can do for economic development, given the limited funds available. VK’s board is composed of members of the business community, including city councillors John O’Fee and Tina Lange. Ortner said Scott, who was hired with two years left on VK’s five-year contract with the city, was offered a severance package and took the news of her dismissal well. The terms of Scott’s severance remain confidential. Currently, VK gets the bulk of its funding from the city, which is $464,000 a year. Anita Grover, manager of economic development, will take over as acting CEO to help supervise staff and work with the board of directors. Scott is the third employee to leave VK recently, but Ortner said the board won’t be doing any hiring in the short term. But Scott isn’t the first VK CEO to have her tenure shortened, as M.J. Cousins met a similar fate in 2005.At the time, Cousins was fired while working on a new strategic development plan for VK.
Despite the turmoil of the last few years, many city councillors still believe in the organization in some form. Mayor Peter Milobar isn’t second-guessing the board’s decision and argued VK is a leader in a lot ways in economic development in the province with some of its programs and products. He said he’s interested to see what new strategies and objectives the board wants to tackle and whether it meshes with what council wants to fund. “I think there’s always a place for economic development within the city,” he said. O’Fee sees Scott’s dismissal as an opportunity to re-examine VK’s business model. “In terms of carrying it forward and having new people doing the same job within the same structures, I think we were going to take a hard look at it,” he said. Coun. Nancy Bepple said she supports VK in some form, but is also open to looking at different models. “We’re a small fish in a big ocean and we have to get out there and promote what we do best to the rest of the world,” she said. Coun. Jim Harker believes the organization is worth having, suggesting any organization that promotes or brings business in, is vital to any city.
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Don Quixote Note: Vernon's newly created Economic Development Function is budgeted to cost $247,560 in 2009. Copies of the 5 year financial plan for the March 30 PUBLIC Input meeting at 5:30 can be found at
- 2009-2013 Financial Plan - 5.10MB
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