Northern Policy Institute Launches Program Allowing Organizations to Share Professional Analyst
Are you a small municipality with no policy analyst on staff but you need to prepare an analysis of trends in taxable property growth? Join the Northern Analyst Cooperative. A local indigenous community looking to build a community profile? Join the Northern Analyst Cooperative. A large organization with a short term project and no staff free to handle it? Join the Northern Analyst Cooperative. A small chamber, a union local, a grassroots community organization? Join the Northern Analyst Cooperative.
Northern Policy Institute’s (NPI’s) latest program, the Northern Analyst Cooperative, will allow members to “time share” a professional policy analyst. By merging collective resources, the program allows even the smallest municipality or local charity to access high-end skills at an affordable price.
“Data is hard enough to obtain. Finding the time and the skills to analyze it is often simply impossible” says James Franks, an Economic Development Officer at the Corporation of the City of Temiskaming Shores. “Small organizations and communities have limited time and limited budgets, partnering with Northern Policy Institute can help address that and I think that is a good thing.”
The cost of the analyst’s services are covered in part by NPI and their sponsors, and in part through membership fees. Annual membership fees range from $400 for a Bronze Membership to $4,000 for a Platinum level. Members can draw on the analyst’s time in half-day increments up to a maximum that varies by membership level.
“We hear it time and time again across the north: We don’t have the resources to do that,” says NPI’s President and CEO, Charles Cirtwill, “… As a member of the Northern Analyst Cooperative, you will not only be helping yourself, but you will be helping your neighbours make better, more informed decisions. By pooling our collective resources we can create an attractive position and keep an analyst busy full time.”
This program is not a substitute for hiring a private consultant. Some conditions apply, including that resulting research will be made public 30 days after the project is completed. The only exception to this rule being where proprietary or confidential information is used in the analysis. In which case only a project synopsis and key findings will be released.
RELATED LINKS
- More about the benefits of the program and how to become a member, visithttps://www.northernpolicy.ca/data101en
- More data and map tools available from NPI at www.northernpolicy.ca/datatools
