April 2017 | Business View Magazine

100 101 the heart of the east coast oil play. Our tax base is considered somewhat ideal – a 40/60 split between business and property tax. Our three industrial parks have been thriving over the last decade and continue to do so, despite the gen- eral economic downturn, and lower oil prices. Even though we’ve experienced a slowdown it hasn’t stalled forward momentum.” The City Council deserves credit for mapping a plan to maximize business investment within the community.When the first industrial park went in, they were directly engaged in devel- oping the property, marketing and selling land parcels, and putting the profits back into the Mount Pearl, Newfoundland AT A GLANCE mount pearl, newfoundland WHAT: A city of 24,000 WHERE: Eastern seacoast region of the province of Newfoundland & Labrador WEBSITE: www.mountpearl.ca From a business perspective, we enjoy the fact that we are in the heart of the east coast oil play. Our tax base is con- sidered somewhat ideal – a 40/60 split between business and property tax. Our three industrial parks have been thriv- ing over the last decade and continue to do so, despite the general economic downturn, and lower oil prices. randy simms mayor park to make it more attractive to other businesses. To- day, the park has less than a seven percent vacancy. On business retention and expansion, the Mount Pearl Economic Development Department works diligently with the Chamber of Commerce or Board of Trade, and directly with business owners to help with their expansion plans. Simms says,“Our Donovan’s Business Park is the largest in the province, and one of the elder statesmen these days.We recognize that to maintain a competitive edge in the region, our park needs to remain at the forefront of development. So,we are reinvesting a substantial amount of money there to upgrade streets, put in new sidewalks, bridges, help make the parkmore amenable for business to move into, and a comfortable place for employees to work. It’s one thing to attract new business, it’s quite another to keep the people