The City of Vancouver is working with the Vancouver Economic Development Commission (VEDC) on the Vancouver Restoration Fund, a project aimed at providing financial assistance to downtown businesses whose insurance does not cover specific losses sustained by the riots.

The VEDC, the city’s economic development agency, is coordinating the fund, including assessing applications from businesses that need help and accepting donations from businesses that want to help. Businesses can go to vancouvereconomic.com/vancouver_restoration_fund for details.

The goal is to generate a fund of $150,000 to provide financial support to impacted businesses and ensure they remain healthy and viable. Businesses can apply for up to $7,000.

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A new report released today shows that the Metro Vancouver Commerce 2010 Olympic Business Program was a huge success in strengthening the region’s local economy, bringing a total of $306 million in new investment and creating 2,558 new jobs.

Nine Metro Vancouver municipalities, including Olympic host city Vancouver, partnered with the Government of Canada on Metro Vancouver Commerce, an innovative Olympic business program that saw 64 international companies come to Vancouver in February 2010 to land agreements for new jobs and investment in the region.

“Our priority going into the Olympics was ensuring we secured long-term benefits for our City, and it’s clear that our Olympic business program did just that,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson.

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Following six weeks of public consultation, the proposed budget for 2011 was released today, which includes funding increases for a number of key areas while keeping city taxes close to the rate of inflation.

“This budget increases funding for key areas like parks and libraries, while still keeping taxes at a low rate,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “We’re in a much better position than last year but we still face economic challenges. We are starting from a $20.6 million budget shortfall and our revenues have not recovered to pre-recession levels.

“Staff have done a remarkable job going through and finding efficiencies and savings throughout the City. This budget will ensure that services are being maintained, and any cutbacks that take place will not impact our most vulnerable citizens. And with a few more weeks until a final decision by council, citizens can continue to give us their input.”

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Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has concluded a successful 12-day official visit to China. Mayor Robertson’s main focus during his trip was the first-ever Vancouver Green Capital Business Mission to Shanghai, where he was joined by executives of 22 local companies from the clean tech, digital media and green building sectors.

Mayor Robertson travelled to Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Hong Kong where he met with high-level government officials and Chinese business leaders to promote trade and investment in Vancouver.

Three Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) were signed during the Mayor’s visit. The first is an agreement between the City of Vancouver and global network giant Cisco Systems, which will position Vancouver as a global smart city by deploying energy monitoring controllers combined with software from Vancouver-based company Pulse Energy.

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A new research and development centre for Canada’s green building technology will be opening in Tianjin, China, through an agreement involving Vancouver Global Green, EnVision Shanghai, and the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City.

The agreement was reached during the Vancouver Green Capital Business Mission in China, during which Mayor Gregor Robertson, Councillor Raymond Louie, and 22 Vancouver businesses are meeting with Chinese businesses and government officials to strengthen business ties between China and Vancouver.

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