A recent Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake in camera release pointed to tough times ahead for the

The in camera release stated that the Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake and the Regional District of Bulkley Nechako's (RDBN) area B, 亚洲天堂 Lake rural have both decided not to renew LEDA's funding agreement for 2012.

contributes $46,613 and RDBN's area B contributes $62,988 to local economic development  initiatives annually.

Of this, $60,000 goes toward funding LEDA, $20,000 is for tourism coordination and management in the Lakes District and $29,601 is for community economic development grants.

While Mayor Luke Strimbold said the village will still be making the $46,613 contribution to the RDBN for economic development purposes, he said the $60,000 that has gone to LEDA in the past will not be granted this year.

He said the reason being is that both the village council and RDBN's area B director Bill Miller, would like to re-evaluate the vision of economic development for the region.

"It will allow us to gather input, as well as ensure we are providing the most effective service possible. Taking time to review a service with your community will bring people together and can have great impact for rejuvenating a service."

He said the RDBN and the village council is reviewing local economic development initiatives in order to set clear vision into the 21 century.

area B director Bill Miller said to Lakes District 亚洲天堂, "We are ensuring that we are getting the best service that we can get for our taxpayer's dollars. When I was elected I made a commitment to be accountable and to make sure that the community gets what it needs. That's part of what this process is. It is a visionary process. We will be looking at delivery of the service and hopefully a bigger and better strategy."

However, LEDA's economic development officer Cindy Shelford said the decision to cut LEDA's funding will have a major impact on the organization. She said, "This decision makes a huge difference for LEDA, being a non-profit organization, every dollar counts."

While Shelford said LEDA will remain operational, she said the cut in funding will effect operations.

"We have received funding cuts for the last three years and this has seen LEDA go from a three full time staffed operation with an economic development officer, a proposal writer and an administrative assistant, to just the economic development officer working part time in the latter half of 2011."

"The demand is still there for assistance with contracts and requests come in daily from investors, industry and government. With projected economic activity in the region expected in the billions of dollars and with LEDA having already an established identity and network for over 14 years as the economic development organization and key contact for 亚洲天堂 Lake and area, this plays a significant role."

"We still have funding in place from certain provincial, federal and First Nations projects that we are working on and will continue to do so," she said,

Shelford said, "Amid forecasts for significant economic development projects, fueled by natural resource projects, LEDA will be actively seeking funding. Ultimately, the amount of activity we do will relate to the funding levels we are able to secure."