The City of Surrey, City of Richmond and Township of Langley have received a 2023 Excellence in Economic Development Gold Award from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC).

The award was for their joint work in the Resiliency, Recovery & Mitigation category that impacted an overall population greater than 500,000 residents. The municipalities were acknowledged and honoured at the recent IEDC 2023 Annual Conference.

The award recognized the Supply Chain Resiliency Program that identified existing industrial capabilities that could be retooled to support future emergency production needs, and helped manufacturers diversify their businesses by focusing on emerging opportunities in new sectors.

“I commend our award-winning Economic Development team for its success with the Supply Chain Resiliency Program,” said Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke. “This is the second award this program has received, and it is a testament to the great work being done by our team. Strong economic development work helps propel City’s to new heights, and there’s no question that is the case for Surrey. Congratulations to all involved in the program on receiving this honour.”

The Supply Chain Resiliency Program was a joint initiative of the three municipalities and involved three key deliverables – an industrial capabilities inventory; a toolkit for de-risking emerging market opportunities; and a seminar series educating manufacturers to adopt technology. Over 380 manufacturers participated in the program, and more than 200 manufacturing businesses took part in in Technology Adoption Workshops.

Every year IEDC looks specifically for economic development organizations, government entities, initiatives, and programs that have demonstrated consistent, exemplary performance in the economic development profession, leading the execution of projects that have a significant impact on revitalizing communities, and playing a major role in shaping and improving the practice of economic development.