Saint John comes up short on economic performance targets
Saint John's economic development agency is disputing there are problems with the city's economy despite failing to meet several performance targets it set for itself just last year.
"I think it its important to put ambitious goals in front of us," said Enterprise Saint John spokesperson Angélique Simpson. "We do feel that they're going in the generally right direction."
On Thursday, Saint John scored 94.7 on a quarterly consumer confidence survey conducted by Halifax-based Corporate Research Associates, the lowest score recorded among the region's four largest municipalities .
Scores above 100 are considered to reflect overall optimism in a community, while scores below 100 reflect more economic anxiety. Moncton scored the highest in the latest survey at 101.5, with Halifax second and Fredericton third.
Disappointing consumer confidence results
It was the 18th quarter in a row Saint John has posted a number below 100, even though the city's economic development plan, called True Growth 2.0, made scoring above 100 in each quarter of 2014 one of its top priorities.
"True Growth 2.0 is all about results," former Enterprise Saint John Chairman Bill Teed wrote in a newspaper opinion piece 13 months ago.
"The consumer confidence index measures the level of confidence consumers have in the economy and comfort in their personal financial situation. Our goal is for Saint John’s consumer confidence to consistently be 100 or higher and be at least 10 per cent higher than the province year over year."
Another key Saint John priority, to finish in the top 50 per cent of a list of Canada's most entrepreneurial cities compiled yearly by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business also fell well short. Saint John placed 103rd in the 121-city review, 43 spots below its target.
A third priority, to record positive job growth in 2014 had an uncertain result. The city recorded 1,200 fewer jobs in December 2014 than in December 2013, a loss according to the way Enterprise Saint John calculated and reported job figures to the public last year.
However, the agency says it is claiming a 1,700 job gain in 2014 because the average number of jobs in the city each month during 2014 was higher than the average in each month in 2013.
'When is Saint John going to be the next big thing?'
Part of the reluctance to acknowledge economic problems in the city stems from an effort initially launched by Mayor Mel Norton to encourage positive thinking. In 2012, he gave a speech telling citizens they had to believe good things were coming in order for it to happen.
"When is Saint John going to be the next big thing? When it is going to be the renaissance city? It's going to be that when every single person in this room believes we are truly that." said Norton.
Lately, as part of True Growth 2.0, the city has launched a campaign called Resolve 2015 asking citizens to "change the conversation" about Saint John's prospects.
"We believe that by talking about the positives, and thinking about solutions to the challenges we face, together we can raise the confidence of our community," says promotional material for the campaign.
