Rallying in the face of crisis is not new for Kitchener. Twenty years ago, the community was faced with a rapidly decaying downtown and a manufacturing sector that was losing jobs by the hundreds. Kickstarted by a $110 million Economic Development Investment Fund, the City of Kitchener rallied its public and private partners behind one of the most remarkable Downtown transformations in Canadian history, home to the leading tech industry and more than $1.5 billion in downtown construction.

As we face yet another crisis, the City of Kitchener is once again poised to kickstart a growth-driven recovery effort through a new $110 million investment fund and a Make It Kitchener 2.0 strategy.

Join Mayor Berry Vrbanovic and key partners who were instrumental in leading Kitchener’s resurgence and who will continue to play a key role in our future recovery. Learn about Kitchener’s focus on Health Innovation, residential intensification, and how the City is using its land assets to create an investment fund without raising taxes.

Moderator:
Cory Bluhm, Executive Director, Economic Development, City of Kitchener

Panelists:
Mike Maxwell, President, Maxwell Building Consultants
Sandra Banks, Vice-President, University Relations, University of Waterloo
Armen Bakirtzian, CEO, Director & Co-Founder, Intellijoint Surgical
Saj Jamal, VP, Marketing & Events, Communitech