PORT McNEILL—A visiting consultant charged with directing a strategic economic plan for Port McNeill knows just the source for his most valuable information: the town’s residents.
Bert Zethof of the Zethof Consulting Group is encouraging all local residents interested in the future of the community to attend one of a pair of public consultation workshops scheduled for Apr. 23-24 at North Island Secondary School.
“Our focus has been on listening to the community,” said Zethof, who is working with Annemarie Koch of Sointula. “Since we started I’ve talked to about 25 or 30 individuals and groups and Annemarie has talked to another 40 or 50.
“We’re starting to hear some common things coming through.”
Essentially, Zethof is compiling a wish list of amenities, facilities or businesses for Port McNeill and seeing how they will fit with a series of six economic goals.
Earlier this month, he outlined progress on the plan to a group hosted by the Chamber of Commerce.
Next week’s workshops both begin at 7 p.m. at NISS.