Airdronians know Airdrie is a great place to do business, and now residents have the award to prove it. Airdrie was named one of the top 12 places to do business in Alberta by Alberta Venture magazine in its November online edition.
According to Kent Rupert, team leader of Economic Development, a major part of the reason Airdrie was singled out for the honour is the SMARTStart program, which partners budding entrepreneurs with established business mentors.
“When (the magazine) looks at it they look at a number of different factors and certainly our SMARTStart program probably put us up there because it is such a unique made-for-Airdrie program,” he said.
“We’ve had a lot of successes in the last few years.”
Rupert said the SMARTSmart program came about when the City of Airdrie along with partners the Airdrie Chamber of Commerce and Community Futures Centre West identified a problem and decided to do something about it.
“(It’s an effort) to try to accelerate some of the smaller businesses,” he added.
The SMARTStart program recently completed its second session, producing 11 graduates from nine local businesses.
The eight-month program is comprised of online training through the GoForth Institute, 10 in-person seminars with local experts and the formation of mentor connections in the community.
When asked why Airdronians should care that the magazine put Airdrie on its Top 12 list, Rupert said, “It’s always nice for our business community to be recognized as being a friendly business community, a welcoming business community, progressive business community.
“Every community does a lot of good work in its own right but to be singled out and recognized is great for the whole community as well, not only the business community.”
According to Rupert, the recognition is also good for attracting new businesses.
“There’s no single thing that makes a community a great place to do business,” Michael Ganley, editor of Alberta Venture magazine said.
“It depends on the type of business and the natural strengths and weaknesses of the community. But the one thing they all have in common is that they’ve made a conscious decision to support and encourage business because they recognize their importance.”
