TAMWORTH Regional Council (TRC) has signed to the Evocities for another four years and pledged $332,000 to the cause.
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Councillors voted unanimously in favour of continuing with the regional promotion program at their last meeting.
Director of business and community John Sommerlad said Evocities had proven to be an “effective marketing and advocacy campaign”.
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Since the 2005, Evocities’ member councils have poured $4.27 million into the campaign.
It also received funding from the NSW ($530,000) and federal governments ($1.7 million) and corporate sponsorship totalling $395,000.
The 2019/20 fees for TRC will be $80,000 and the payment will grow by $2000 each year.
In 2015, the membership fee was $60,000.
Evocities chairman and Albury council mayor Kevin Mack thanked TRC for rejoining the campaign.
He said the group could put regional issues front of mind with state and federal votes just around the corner.
“With a state and the federal election looming in 2019, Evocities will play a key role in campaigning for innovative regional policy development, particularly in the areas of population growth, regional relocation schemes and incentives to recruit, train and retain skilled workers in regional cities,” Cr Mack said.
Dubbo Regional Council also voted to invest a further $332,000 into Evocities.
Orange, Bathurst, Armidale Albury and Wagga Wagga councils are expected to vote on similar motions in the near future.
According to Evocities, 3619 households had relocated to one of the Evocities since the program was launched in 2010.
However, it’s difficult to determine how many people had relocated after receiving some help as they did not all tell Evocities of its involvement.
The Evojobs website which promotes career opportunities in the member cities had had 2.4 million unique visitors.