Amid the economic turbulence brought on by plummeting oil prices, Cochrane and Rocky View County (RVC) have remained among the province’s best communities for business, according to Alberta Venture magazine.
Michael Ganley, editor of Alberta Venture, said the feature list – released in the June edition of the magazine – is a data-driven exercise to offer hard information.
“There’s a bit of a lack of (hard information) right now, which is a problem we’ve come up against in the last few years,” he said.
The list, which focused on population growth from 2011 to 2015, reported Cochrane experienced the highest growth in the province at 49 per cent, while RVC experienced a more moderate nine per cent increase.
Mike Korman, manager of economic development for the Town of Cochrane, said a correlation exists between population growth and Cochrane’s appeal for businesses.
“When we’re attractive for living in, (that) spurs on people who are innovative,” he said.
Being situated close to Calgary, Korman said many new residents are coming to Cochrane with high education and a creative entrepreneurial drive, as 47 per cent of the Town’s businesses are home-based.
Alberta Venture noted Cochrane’s thriving tech industry, with innovative companies ranging from wearable technology for the bike racing industry, surveillance products and ongoing development of agricultural technology for global companies.
“Cochrane is a unique little microcosm of a story,” Ganley said.
The Town has worked hard to promote the atmosphere of a “tech hotbed,” according to Korman.
“There’s some great companies that have been here and we’re trying to promote them as such to ensure that they attract other companies,” he said.
Alberta Venture reported RVC as having lower residential and farmland tax rates in 2015 than all other communities except for Fort McMurray.
“That has brought in some huge operations,” Ganley said.
In 2013, RVC placed sixth on the list while other communities surrounding Calgary such as Okotoks and Airdrie placed fourth and seventh respectively.
On the 2016 list, however, Edmonton moved from the 12th spot to take the number one position.
This flourish, he said, was because Edmonton’s economy relied less on oil than its Battle of Alberta hockey counterpart. The communities surrounding Edmonton benefited from its strength and also moved up the list, he said.
Though Calgary remained near the top of the list in 2016, those surrounding communities that ranked impressively in 2013 lost ground with Airdrie in 14th, Okotoks at 13th and RVC in 10th.
“The satellite communities around Calgary are impacted more,” he said. “It is all relative, though, and I think everyone in Alberta is suffering somewhat.”
Not making the list in 2013, Cochrane was the lone exception to the decline of communities surrounding Calgary, Ganley said, taking fifth for the connection between its innovative commercial industry and exploding population.
“We tie those two together,” Ganley said. “It’s one of the reasons that places like Cochrane move up the list a little bit.”
Requests for comment from RVC were not returned by press time.
