Kent Rupert, team leader of Economic Development at the City of Airdrie, said he’s hoping feedback received from the public will help him and his team as they work on a new economic strategy.
“We really want to sit down and talk to the business community and the local community to sort of help us shape the strategy because…we’re doing something a little bit different on this strategy,” Rupert said. “It’s been done in some other communities but more in the (United) States. It’s really looking at place making as an economic driver.
“Why do people move here? Why do people stay here? Why do businesses move here? Why do businesses expand here? What makes it a great place?”
What economic development is working on is a 10-year strategy for developing the local economy. Rupert said it will include things like business development, the SmartStart program for entrepreneurs, marketing the city and investment attraction.
Rupert said including the general public in the development of the strategy is a way to include “that quality of life piece.”
Developing an economic strategy for the city is important, according to Rupert.
“Certainly if and when we come out of the downturn, we want to make sure we’re really organized in the direction we want to go,” he said. “By developing a 10-year strategy, it just sets that framework for when we bring on new industrial lands, when we bring on new commercial lands – that type of thing.”
InnoVisions and Associates – an Airdrie consulting firm – has been contracted to work on the strategy with the Airdrie Economic Development team. The cost to develop the strategy is $75,000 with $20,000 of that being provided by an Invest Canada Community Initiatives grant from the federal government. The remaining $55,000 is coming out of the department’s operating budget, according to Rupert.
The survey will be available online at airdrieeconomicstrategy.ca until mid-October, according to Rupert.
“There are three parts to it. We’re actually out doing surveys with some of the businesses in town (right now),” he said. “We’re really trying to direct (the public) to the online survey because there are two parts to it. We have the survey and then we have a mapping component that people can go and say, ‘This is what I like about Airdrie. This is what I’d like to see in the future.’”
Rupert and his team will also be out at a few public events, including AirdrieFest – which is set to run Sept. 10 at City Hall – to talk to people and answer questions.
