John Elliott is the Economic Development Manager and started at Council in September. John is in a new role and sat down to share what it’s all about.
How have you found Council so far?
Everyone has been really helpful, friendly, and very open to sharing their knowledge.
It’s also great that everyone is happy to see someone in this role.
What five words would you use to describe your role?
There’s a lot of work to do and my role has a lot of scope and flexibility. In no particular order:
Innovative
Collaborative
Creative
Empowering
Exciting
Tell us about Willoughby’s economic development and your role
Economic development is about helping create jobs and generate wealth. It’s about defining what kind of jobs we want, what businesses we want, and where we want the economy to go. My role is to help do that, directly and indirectly, from guiding the strategic settings through to managing practical projects.
There are a lot of aspects of economic development. The key is about doing the right things, in the right place, at the right time. We use the strategic levers to set the agenda of where we want to be, whilst working with the community to put in place projects that lead to the creation of jobs and wealth. That’s where the innovation really comes in.
COVID has impacted Willoughby’s economy, especially in the hospitality sector. Our recently approved Economic Recovery Plan sets out the ways we’re helping the economy to recover by building confidence, supporting businesses, and increasing the activity in the CBD.
What have you been working on since you started?
There’s been a lot of work to develop the Economic Recovery Plan, which was approved at a recent Council meeting. It’s a six-month plan to support the community through the pandemic and into a phase of recovery and growth, and follows on from the Business Support Plan.
The next step is to develop the Economic Development Strategy in the New Year, which will be a strategy for the longer term.
To help with building that strategy, I’ve been working with local business leaders to establish a collective group to come together and agree on the way we want to see the Willoughby economy grow.
I’ve also been working on the project to activate the laneways in Chatswood. There are a number of laneways around the CBD that we are going to change from mainly delivery lanes into community spaces where people enjoy spending time.
Linked to that I’ve also been working on how we can increase the amount of outdoor dining to help the hospitality sector and developing ideas around the 24-hour economy – to get more people out to support local businesses.
What’s the most inspiring part of your job?
It’s inspiring to see results and a thriving economy. I’ve always loved seeing things work, and work well. I like to make sure that whatever we do is the right thing and provides benefits for a long time.
It’s also inspiring to show people a future by creating a roadmap of where we want to be and the ways we can get there.
What’s one thing about economic development you’d like everyone to know?
Everything Council does contributes to economic development. All the services we provide, the buildings we construct, the events we stage, the planning applications we approve. Everything contributes to making our community a better place to work.
