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Less than two months after Invest Ottawa hired a new chief executive officer, the organization is in the process of hiring external consultants to help formulate a “strategic plan” to help guide the region’s lead economic development agency through the years ahead.
The agency is “seeking a consultant or firm with a proven methodology and track record in strategic plan and brand identity development help (sic) us achieve these objectives, enabling us to fully incorporate a new business strategy in our fiscal planning and operations by January of 2018,” reads a ‘request for proposals’ posted to MERX, the online portal for government tenders.
Why is the city agency looking to hire outside help so soon after hiring a new boss?
According to CEO Michael Tremblay, hiring consultants to help form a plan is all part of his broader plan.
“Basically, it’s just me executing on the plan that I brought through the process with me,” said Tremblay, elaborating on the plan that he proposed to Invest Ottawa’s board of directors during his hiring process. “Part of the plan was that we realized that Invest Ottawa was a five-year-old organization and we’re now in the fourth industrial revolution so what we have to do now is make sure that from a competitive perspective that we develop a plan on a series of strategies that ensure that Ottawa competes in the world.”
Despite putting out a request for proposals for a “strategic plan,” Tremblay said he isn’t interested in receiving any strategic direction from the consultants.
“’I’m not outsourcing strategy. I’m outsourcing the process and I’m including all of my colleagues and stakeholders in the city to make sure we have the best plan possible,” he said. “We want to really ensure that we get on to a track that is going to be great for us competitively.”
Tremblay said he is hoping to get the results back from the consultants in the months ahead so that he can digest the report and use the information to help shape Invest Ottawa’s business strategy starting in 2018.
“We want to be a reliable and predictable organization. We want to be thought leaders and we want to bring the power of the city and the province and the country to bare when we’re developing our business for the City of Ottawa,” he said.
Tremblay comes to Invest Ottawa at a time of turmoil within the organization. With the departure of former president Bruce Lazenby, Invest Ottawa has not had a dedicated leader at the helm of the organization for the better part of a year. Invest Ottawa announced Lazenby’s departure on March 31, 2016. Tremblay took over on March 2 of this year.
During that period, Invest Ottawa was tasked with bringing the city’s $30-million Innovation Centre at Bayview Yards under its umbrella — a 46,000-square-foot space aimed at housing budding entrepreneurs.
The organization has undergone significant turnover in recent months, with Karen Letain, former director of marketing and communications, and Jonathan Milne, former managing director of innovation and interim chief executive officer, among those who’ve left following Tremblay’s appointment.
Milne, in particular, was identified by Invest Ottawa officials as a key figure in the organization who would be relied upon to help Tremblay get up to speed with the intricacies of how the organization operates.
Turnover aside, the various moving parts within Ottawa’s economy and the addition of the Innovation Centre called for a broad strategic look at how to best streamline Invest Ottawa’s operations, according to the organization’s chair of the board, David Ritonja.
“We were probably one of the most stovepipe cities in Canada when it came to economic development and I’ve seen us come a long way,” he said, adding that while Ottawa used to be a telecommunications mecca, it is now made up of various burgeoning technology and software clusters that all have very different needs. Layer in the new innovation centre, and the way the organization handles economic development has become a bit muddled, said Ritonja.
Invest Ottawa is now responsible for helping all the city’s new industries expand, he said. As an example, Ritonja pointed to the recent announcement that $63 million will be given to Ottawa’s Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks (funding that was spearheaded by representatives at Invest Ottawa) and the work being done between the City of Ottawa and government bureaucrats at Queen’s Park to have the nation’s capital designated as a dedicated spot for the testing of autonomous cars.
With multiple cards in play, Ritonja said, a comprehensive strategic review of how to integrate all of the city’s various economic components is needed.
“It will ensure that the right players are engaged and their input given, and that the next four- or five-year mandate of Invest Ottawa and the Innovation Centre at Bayview Yards is on the right path,” he said. “We’re now at a point where we’re taking things to the next level in the city and that is what the strategy is all about.”
Tremblay wouldn’t reveal the amount that Invest Ottawa is prepared to spend on the consultant’s report. However this isn’t the first time the organization has undertaken an initiative like this. In 2001, the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation, the organization that preceded Invest Ottawa, spent more than $200,000 to hire consultants to provide a marketing, branding and strategic plan that collected feedback from 161 technology, tourism and government stakeholders. The report is best known for proposing that the nation’s capital adopt the motto “Ottawa: Technically Beautiful,” which was widely panned by both the business community as well as residents.
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The agency is “seeking a consultant or firm with a proven methodology and track record in strategic plan and brand identity development help (sic) us achieve these objectives, enabling us to fully incorporate a new business strategy in our fiscal planning and operations by January of 2018,” reads a ‘request for proposals’ posted to MERX, the online portal for government tenders.
Why is the city agency looking to hire outside help so soon after hiring a new boss?
According to CEO Michael Tremblay, hiring consultants to help form a plan is all part of his broader plan.
“Basically, it’s just me executing on the plan that I brought through the process with me,” said Tremblay, elaborating on the plan that he proposed to Invest Ottawa’s board of directors during his hiring process. “Part of the plan was that we realized that Invest Ottawa was a five-year-old organization and we’re now in the fourth industrial revolution so what we have to do now is make sure that from a competitive perspective that we develop a plan on a series of strategies that ensure that Ottawa competes in the world.”
Despite putting out a request for proposals for a “strategic plan,” Tremblay said he isn’t interested in receiving any strategic direction from the consultants.
“’I’m not outsourcing strategy. I’m outsourcing the process and I’m including all of my colleagues and stakeholders in the city to make sure we have the best plan possible,” he said. “We want to really ensure that we get on to a track that is going to be great for us competitively.”
Tremblay said he is hoping to get the results back from the consultants in the months ahead so that he can digest the report and use the information to help shape Invest Ottawa’s business strategy starting in 2018.
“We want to be a reliable and predictable organization. We want to be thought leaders and we want to bring the power of the city and the province and the country to bare when we’re developing our business for the City of Ottawa,” he said.
Tremblay comes to Invest Ottawa at a time of turmoil within the organization. With the departure of former president Bruce Lazenby, Invest Ottawa has not had a dedicated leader at the helm of the organization for the better part of a year. Invest Ottawa announced Lazenby’s departure on March 31, 2016. Tremblay took over on March 2 of this year.
During that period, Invest Ottawa was tasked with bringing the city’s $30-million Innovation Centre at Bayview Yards under its umbrella — a 46,000-square-foot space aimed at housing budding entrepreneurs.
The organization has undergone significant turnover in recent months, with Karen Letain, former director of marketing and communications, and Jonathan Milne, former managing director of innovation and interim chief executive officer, among those who’ve left following Tremblay’s appointment.
Milne, in particular, was identified by Invest Ottawa officials as a key figure in the organization who would be relied upon to help Tremblay get up to speed with the intricacies of how the organization operates.
Turnover aside, the various moving parts within Ottawa’s economy and the addition of the Innovation Centre called for a broad strategic look at how to best streamline Invest Ottawa’s operations, according to the organization’s chair of the board, David Ritonja.
“We were probably one of the most stovepipe cities in Canada when it came to economic development and I’ve seen us come a long way,” he said, adding that while Ottawa used to be a telecommunications mecca, it is now made up of various burgeoning technology and software clusters that all have very different needs. Layer in the new innovation centre, and the way the organization handles economic development has become a bit muddled, said Ritonja.
Invest Ottawa is now responsible for helping all the city’s new industries expand, he said. As an example, Ritonja pointed to the recent announcement that $63 million will be given to Ottawa’s Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks (funding that was spearheaded by representatives at Invest Ottawa) and the work being done between the City of Ottawa and government bureaucrats at Queen’s Park to have the nation’s capital designated as a dedicated spot for the testing of autonomous cars.
With multiple cards in play, Ritonja said, a comprehensive strategic review of how to integrate all of the city’s various economic components is needed.
“It will ensure that the right players are engaged and their input given, and that the next four- or five-year mandate of Invest Ottawa and the Innovation Centre at Bayview Yards is on the right path,” he said. “We’re now at a point where we’re taking things to the next level in the city and that is what the strategy is all about.”
Tremblay wouldn’t reveal the amount that Invest Ottawa is prepared to spend on the consultant’s report. However this isn’t the first time the organization has undertaken an initiative like this. In 2001, the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation, the organization that preceded Invest Ottawa, spent more than $200,000 to hire consultants to provide a marketing, branding and strategic plan that collected feedback from 161 technology, tourism and government stakeholders. The report is best known for proposing that the nation’s capital adopt the motto “Ottawa: Technically Beautiful,” which was widely panned by both the business community as well as residents.
查看原文...
