Nydam rides into sunset

BY MARC LALONDE

The Chronicle

After more than two decades and thousands of hours promoting business development in the West Island, Georges Nydam is calling it a career. The West Island’s industrial commissioner, who’s worked on behalf of West Island business development for the last 21 years, will hang up his spurs and walk off into the sunset effective Oct. 31.

Retiring for “personal reasons,� among others, Nydam added the West Island has grown up around him on his watch and that, a little like a father letting his son go off on his own, the West Island is done growing and doesn’t really need him anymore.

“There are some sites left for development, but those sites are mostly owned by developers who are planning on doing their own marketing,� he said. “There isn’t really that much left to do except for helping find tenants for buildings that have changed vocations and getting locations for businesses that are interested in coming here.�

Nydam’s shoes won’t be filled by just one person — they’re a little big for that, but team members brought on by Nydam that are ably supervising various aspects of the Conseil Local de Développement (CLD) will continue to supervise those areas.

“I’ve put an organization in place where there are good people who will maintain the level of development and entrepreneurship that we have gotten to,� he said.

Nydam said the one achievement of which he is most proud was when he got all the West Island mayors to come to a consensus on development in the early ‘90s.

“In 1990, we got all the mayors together on a common investment strategy. There’s no real competition among the cities, because some conditions are better for business in Pointe Claire, while others are better in say, Kirkland or Baie d’Urfé. I’m proud that we managed to keep STS Systems (now NSB) in the West Island back when the provincial government was offering huge tax breaks to bring businesses downtown. I feel that was very big for us, creating a West Island consensus on development and a common objective,� he said.

The big challenge for coming years, Nydam said, is positioning the West Island to compete against other suburbs, like Laval and the South Shore, to attract business.

“We know what we need to make the West Island competitive with those two places, but of the three suburbs in the region, the West Island is the only one without the means to carry out its plan because anything the West Island wants has to be approved by Montreal and something standing in the way of making the West Island’s case is certainly the higher business taxes. Before the merger in 2002, we were 20 per cent cheaper in terms of taxes; now we’re five per cent higher,� he said, adding Laval and the South Shore while West Islanders — despite actually living on the island of Montreal — don’t.

“We have to have competitive conditions. We have the potential to do what we are hoping. We just need the political will from the government,� he said.

Pointe Claire Mayor Bill McMurchie said Nydam’s unique style of leadership worked for the West Island and Pointe Claire.

“He has been industrial commissioner for many years and during that time, industrial development in the West Island has been quite extensive, and in the West Island, he has created a link between the cities, the real-estate community and the business community. I hope his retirement is as pleasant as our association with him has been,� he said.