THE city could be doing more to attract more businesses to the region, one councillor says.
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For about a decade, Tamworth Regional Council has largely banked on the combined effort of the Evocities program to get more Sydney-siders to consider a regional relocation.
The program has hit the skids as a number of members, Wagga, Armidale and Orange withdrawing support.
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The Evocities steering committee opted to suspend the program while it conceives a new model for regional relocation.
Tamworth councillor Juanita Wilson recently told the Leader the council should rethink the way it entices people to town.
The Evocities program pitched the perks of a regional lifestyle compared with the capital cities while advertising job opportunities in the member councils' towns.
Cr Wilson essentially said the council should flip the script.
She said the council should offer "high incentives" for businesses to establish offices in the local government area.
"Jobs bring people here, but the environment of the town keeps people here," she said.
"We not only need to try and attract jobs, but we should target types of businesses we want and make it attractive to come."
While it hadn't been discussed formally, she said the council could look at incentives like "the cost of land, imposition of rates and fees and charges".
Last week, the Evocities steering committee opted to shelf the four year memorandum of understanding with its seven member councils as it explored "a future collaborative model to attract new residents to their regions".
The Evocities have collectively welcomed over 3,960 new households since its inception in September 2010.
"Over 150,000 people (most currently living in Sydney) have visited the websites so far this 2018/19 year, and over the past five years 2,366 people have registered their interest in moving to an Evocity," chairman and Albury mayor Kevin Mack said.
"There are 3,500 registered users on the Evojobs database alone and over 300 new job seekers are registering every month.
"Regional relocation and skills attraction remain priorities for our cities and we are keen to continue exploring the opportunity of expanding as there is certainly capacity in the Evocities brand to incorporate additional regional cities."
There were about 34 Tamworth jobs listed on the Evojobs website at the end of this week.
The majority of the positions were local and state government roles with the council and the hospital the predominant workplaces looking for employees.