TRURO - After not getting any response to a request for proposals for a strategic and business plan for the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition, the group involved has decided to try another tact.
"We certainly acknowledge that our original advertisements for a consultant did not result in a proposal that we could move ahead with," said Ron Smith, executive director of the Colchester Regional Development Association, which is assisting with the process.
The strategic and business plan is being developed to assist with a crippling debt load totalling about $1 million and aging infrastructure the NSPE board is dealing with.
"So, we've decided that it's probably best to break it down," Smith said of the plan. "We questioned whether the project was too large of a scope. And we can break down the project into smaller bits with some of the expertise that already sits on the steering committee to handle smaller pieces of it and come to some of the answers that we are looking for on our own."
That could include such things as undertaking a facility inventory to determine additions or deletions, streamlining the facilities reservation process and creating a form for rental space and having that available for every type of inquiry, whether it's for inside or outside facilities, Smith said.
"Things like that that are really tasks that can be handled on their own, prior to deciding whether we need to go and find additional help to finalize it or not."
Smith said the committee will be looking at how various aspects of the required plan can be broken down at future meetings and then determining whether another, smaller request for proposals will be required.
