The new chair of Richmond Chamber of Commerce said he aims to help Richmond become a more attractive destination for high-paying jobs during his term.
Jason Tse was elected the chair of the board of directors on April 26. He is the manager of cargo development at Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Airport Authority and has been on the chamber’s board over the past five years.
“I’m very invested in the community, so I thought here is an opportunity to give back,” said Tse, who grew up and works in Richmond.
“Perhaps I have a chance to leave a legacy during my leadership here, even though it's only for one year, but to invoke positive change.”
Tse said he has always been passionate about economic development and the chamber will continue its advocacy efforts, to help create economic opportunity for high-paying jobs in the city.
“We talk a lot about affordability, but they're two components: One is the cost of housing, which everyone talks about, too. But the other is creating economic opportunity for high-paying jobs,” said Tse.
“I’d like to provide a foundation where we have an environment where we can have companies based here, they can scale here, and as they grow hopefully to higher-value industries, they can also create higher-paying job opportunities and economic opportunities in our community.”
Tse said he believes some higher-value industries have the most growth potential for Richmond, including emerging technology, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced manufacturing.
And because of the airport and ports in Richmond, there are also growth opportunities in the logistics field.
“A lot of [chamber’s work] is in terms of shaping policy and encouraging changes in government direction to facilitate an environment that companies involved in in the … space can grow.”
Richmond businesses face challenges
Richmond businesses are facing some challenges that are also common in other cities throughout the Lower Mainland, according to Tse.
This includes the lack of available industrial land, which drives up the costs of doing business in the region.
“There're perhaps some things we can do both on the housing market as well as in the industrial market to certain policies, to unlock additional supply that can bring prices down.”
Another challenge many companies face nowadays is finding the right talent, he added.
“As we transition from one generation to the next, and we're looking at focusing on different industries for growth, how do we have the necessary skill sets for not just replacing people who are retiring today, but also having the necessary skill sets for the industries that we want to have leadership in?” said Tse.
“Where are we going to get the people from? Are we going to bring them from around the country or are we training them within our own post-secondary institutions with the right skill sets to fill these positions in the future?”
This year marks the chamber’s 100-year anniversary.
Tse said it’s a great opportunity for the non-profit association to reflect on the past and look forward to the future to support the economic development of a city that has many unique features.
“We have people coming in here to the airport or goods through the port, so we're acting as a gateway between the Asia Pacific region and North America,” said Tse.
“Also, what's cool is that we have lots of immigrants from all over the world and Canada, and we have long-time locals, too. So, we have an opportunity where we can share a lot of ideas and best practices of how to do things. There's not many communities that have that within North America.”
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