City of Surrey wins two international awards for economic development programs

The City of Surrey has been internationally recognized, for the first time, in two award categories by the International Economic Development Council.

The two awards are:

• Gold Award for the Surrey Makes PPE Program – recognizing the City’s efforts to create economic opportunity and resilience for our local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  
   
• Silver Award for the Surrey SparkBIZ Program – recognizing excellence in business retention and expansion efforts, as well as our effective engagement with the local business community.

“We are honoured to receive these international awards," said Mayor Doug McCallum. "It's a testament to the collaborative and solutions-orientated business ecosystem that have been developed in the City of Surrey. The culture of partnership and innovation is a Surrey strength that we continually build upon, and we see the success in the over 2,300 new businesses that open shop in Surrey each year.”

This marks the fourth accolade for Surrey Makes PPE, which has been awarded the 2020 UBCM Community Excellence Award: Excellence in Service Delivery, the BC Economic Development Association’s Award for Economic Resiliency and Recovery, and the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators’ 2021 Willis Award for Innovation. Launched in April 2020, during the early months of the pandemic, this program brought 25 Surrey manufacturers together to retool and expand their businesses to provide in-demand, made-in-Surrey personal protective equipment (PPE). The program, which had generated over $12.4 million in sales in one year and supported over 140 jobs during the pandemic.

Surrey’s SparkBIZ Program is the City’s business retention and expansion program, which fosters value-driven relationships with local businesses. The adoption of new technologies and enhanced strategic data collection has allowed the City to provide real-time market intelligence, which has been critical in the development of programs like Surrey Makes PPE. This new program has also allowed the City of Surrey to maximize meaningful engagement with local businesses, with 700 businesses taking part in the last 3 years.