The How-to Playbook

Welcome to the team!

You are joining a network of local leaders with a passion for promoting growth and investment in Summerside. Team Summerside is made up of ambassadors from different sectors that are prominent among their peers and actively involved in their professional networks. The mandate of the group involves actively promoting the city, cultivating leads and supporting business recruitment efforts. This playbook has been created to help our Team Summerside members fulfill that mandate. Please take a few moments to read through the information that follows and remember that assistance and materials are just a phone call or email away. Again, congratulations on being chosen as one of our city’s representatives.

Contents

What’s included in this playbook?

The Role and Benefits of an Ambassador

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The mandate for each ambassador will be to endorse Summerside as a place in which to invest and live; promote opportunities to partner with other Summerside businesses; and to highlight specific programs and incentives that are attractive to their industry networks.

In return, Team Summerside members will benefit from strengthened relationships with city officials, increased networking opportunities, industry partnership opportunities and profile for their organization.

Telling the Summerside Story

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The reason ambassador programs are so successful is because they bring personal experience and credibility to the Summerside message. Your own Summerside story lends context and depth to more general information about the city, making it memorable for businesses faced with many possible location choices.

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind when you tell the Summerside story:

• Your own experience doing business in Summerside is what your colleagues will be most interested in. Speak honestly about the opportunities and challenges you have faced, and provide as much information as you can about peers, competitors and complementary businesses in the city.
• Think about the questions that would be top of mind for you if you were thinking of relocating. Would you be concerned about available workers? Transportation access? Population demographics and average household income? Share as many answers as you can in the context of Summerside to the questions you think are most relevant.
• Team Summerside members are not expected to be experts on details such as lease rates and tax incentives. Rather they help direct their leads to the best sources of detailed information and make the necessary connections to get those questions answered.

What are some key stats about Summerside?

• Our population just over $16,000
• Average household income is $45,000 with 35% of households at $50,000 and above
• Labour force numbers 9,290
• 50% have high school or above

What does our trade area look like?

• Summerside has a trade area population in excess of 45,000 people representing 35% of the Island population
• 75% of the Island Population is within an hour’s drive of Summerside
• Summerside is within a day’s drive of over 100 million customers

What are the distances to other major cities?

Charlottetown 71 km
Moncton 151 km
Halifax 303 km
Boston 944 km
Hartford 1094 km
Montreal 1132 km
New York 1281 km
Ottawa 1320 km
Toronto 1665 km

What about tourism?

• Summerside is a tourism destination, and during peak season our population swells to well over 80,000 as a result of overnight visitors to Summerside
• In 2006, tourist visits exceeded 530,000
• June 2008 rooms nights up 31% over

What is the cost of doing business in Summerside?

• Federal corporate tax rate 22.12%
• Provincial corporate tax rate (Manufacturing and small business - 7.5%, Other 16%)
• Lowest commercial tax rate of any city on Prince Edward Island: Provincial ($1.50 per $100 of assessment) Municipal ($1.92 per $100 of assessment)
• Innovation and development labour rebates
• A full annual rebate on all provincial taxes for aviation-related business operating in Slemon Park
• 10-year tax rebate program for export-focused manufacturers or value added service providers
• 35% scientific research and investment tax credit
• 10% manufacturing equipment and machinery tax credit
• Cheapest rate for water and sewer charges for a community of comparable size in all of Atlantic Canada

What taxes DON’T we have?

• No payroll tax
• No corporation minimum tax
• No corporation capital or franchise tax
• No gross receipts tax
• No business & occupation tax
• No real property transfer tax
• No PST on inbound 800 number calls
• No PST on outbound long distance telephone usage in excess of 250,000 minutes per year
• No PST on clothing and footwear
• Summerside boasts the lowest rates for water and sewer charges for a community of its size in all of Atlantic Canada

What are some facts about the Port?

• Summerside’s Deep Water Commercial Shipping Port is situated on Bedeque Bay on the South Coast of PEI. The port remains ice-free from April through to December.
• A recently constructed 53,000 square foot heated transit shed adds to the attraction for shippers, as well as the abundance of additional outside storage.
• Services include ice breaking, sewage disposal, customs, and fuel supply

What are some facts about the Summerside Business Park?

• Buildings from 2,000 to over 25,000 square feet
• Three phase, 600 volt electrical capacity
• Lease rates from $5.00/square foot
• Two, 1/2 acres available for $25,000 each
• Construction costs range from $50-$55/square foot
• Design/build opportunities

What are some facts about Slemon Park?

• More than 275,000 square feet of unobstructed cantilever hanger space including ample shop and office accommodations
• Transport Canada certified runway 8,000 X 200 ft
• A variety of accommodations: Private hotel rooms, housekeeping suites, campus-style as well as 254 residential units
• Tax Free Zone - 100% rebate on provincial sales tax, income tax, and property tax until 2012

What about quality of life?

• PEI has the second lowest crime rate in Canada (2001 Census).
• One of the most affordable places in Canada with CPI lower than the Average for the rest of Canada
• PEI has one of the highest home ownership rates as a result of our affordable housing
• PEI offers one of the most sophisticated telecommunications networks in the world

Ambassador Program FAQs

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Q: What does Summerside hope to achieve with this program?

Year 1 Program Goals

• Development of a local network of 50 credible and highly visible leaders working together to promote the community at home and abroad
• Reach into networks that would not be possible for any one organization or individual to achieve – resulting in high visibility for Summerside in target markets
• Promotion of success stories that will highlight Summerside’s potential and improve its perception in national and international markets

Q: How do I get a kit?

You can order as many kits as you like at any time by contacting Mike Thususka, Director of Economic Development for the City of Summerside at 432.1255.

To support large events and trade shows, please allow one week of notice to ensure time for package assembly and deliver

Q: I know someone who is a great cheerleader for Summerside, but he’s retired. Would he be eligible?

The program was designed for leaders from the business community, but a real cheerleader shouldn’t let that stop them! Summerside needs support from all community members.

Q: What’s included in the Team Summerside kits?

• Introductory letter
• Community Profile (business information focused)
• Living and Working in Summerside (workforce focused)
• Retail and Franchise Guide (can be included for leads in these areas)
• Aerospace Sector Profile (can be included for leads in this sector)
• IT Sector Profile (ca be included for leads in this sector)

Using your Networks to Generate Leads

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You already belong to groups and associations. You already attend trade shows, conferences and events. You also probably already act as an informal ambassador for Summerside every time you talk about your experiences doing business here. We’d like to support you in these networking activities and work with you to identify potential leads that can be followed up on.

• Generate a list of professional organizations and groups that you belong to. How can you reach out to these contacts to tell the Summerside story and identify potential leads that might be thinking of relocating or expanding?
• What upcoming trade shows and events will you be attending? Can Team Summerside play a role through displays, co-attendees and a supply of ambassador kits to help you distribute information about both your company and the city it does business in?

Are there organizations in your industry that you’d like to see come to Summerside?

A business that has expressed an interest in hearing about your experience? Share those leads with us and we will follow up in earnest. We may also call on your to participate in ongoing discussions to help the lead decide if Summerside is right for them.

Staying Informed

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We will communicate regularly with Team Summerside so that you are up to date on any relevant news or happening that can help the mandate of Team Summerside.

Likewise, if your organization has a story to share, we want to hear about it! New initiatives, success stories and ambassador profiles are examples of the types of updates that will keep us all updated.

Feel free to contact Mike Thususka anytime at 902 432 1255 or miket@city.summerside.pe.ca for updates and information