Editor:
Edward Keeling suggests the Sunshine Coast should aggressively seek out high-tech companies to locate here and not more hotels, conference centres or tourists ("Light industry, not hotel," Coast Reporter letters, July 23).
We would all wish for that and for the creation of quality jobs, but there is a problem. As director of business development for several Canadian and U.S. companies, I was responsible for expanding their operations into Europe, the Middle East and Indian SC. None of the criteria I applied for investing in those countries would be met here on the Coast.
The investments we made varied from simple sales and marketing operations to manufacturing and the transfer of technology. All is not lost, though. There will be entrepreneurs who may be persuaded to invest here; however, it would take a team with special skills and a dynamic work ethic to identify targets and put together an "offer they could not refuse."
One of my companies built a manufacturing base in Galway, Ireland, the last place I would have chosen. The CEO at the time was a golfer and enjoyed his Guinness. Local councils do not have the skills or financial resources to do a trawl of Canadian, U.S., world prospects, and so increasing tourism is an easier target and the Sunshine Coast is well placed to capture a bigger slice of that market.
Paul Rhodes
Sechelt
