The next twelve months through the eyes of the Whitecourt Economic Development Committee

The Economic Development Committee Priorities for 2022 were laid out during Whitecourt Town Council’s first meeting of the year, held on January 10. The top three current priorities are set out for January through March. The first one is Implementing Business Retention and Expansion Strategies, which include supporting an application for Business Support Network grant funding from the Alberta government.

The second was Encouraging Investment Attraction Across Key Sectors. A specific idea for that is the development of a webpage entitled Starting a Business in Whitecourt, which will have simple steps, such as how to get a permit, and other resources to help budding small business entrepreneurs. With a timeline for March, the third current priority was Encouraging Partnerships and Initiatives that Advance Skills Attraction and Enhance the Education and Training Landscape. “Those are some of the items that we really want to kick off starting right away,” explained Economic Development Committee Chair Rand Richards.

Each strategy was broken down further with action plans and options for implementation. Under business retention and expansion, the committee listed eleven action plans which included exploring a business license system to help identify benefits, challenges, and potential barriers for businesses. Another idea is to implement a Business Satisfaction Survey to collect comparative data on stakeholder satisfaction levels annually.

As for encouraging partnerships and advancing skills attraction, the Economic Development Committee listed six action plans for 2022. Establishing a working group with businesses, industry, training support organizations, and post-secondary institutions was one listed idea. The working group would help increase opportunities and help identify synergies to support a skilled local workforce to help meet the demands. Another idea was to create a list of occupations in demand that would showcase the skilled labour needs of area employers. Such a list would help inform would-be employees of the skills in high demand for the area and accelerate the attraction of skilled workers.

The committee listed fifteen action plans under the investment attraction strategy. Ideas include a full-page spread and article in the Invest Alberta publication, a targeted social media campaign on life in Whitecourt and what it’s like to be a resident, and a virtual community tour to help recruit employees and new residents to the community.

The establishment of contacts with the key players in Edmonton’s regional hydrogen hub, semi-annual meetings with Economic Development and Trade, launching “The Collective” co-working space pilot project with Community Futures Yellowhead East, and hosting one-on-one sessions with key oil and gas sector players are also ideas. They also suggested the creation of a database of the available commercial land and buildings within Whitecourt and the “Starting a Business in Whitecourt” webpage.

Economic Development Officer Rhonda Hough said the webpage would work as a one-stop shop. It would provide information from the first steps of starting a business and help lead those who need a business plan in the right direction. “It breaks it down into an easier outline for entrepreneurs that are opening new businesses. Then it goes into the permitting stage, so they are aware of which permits are available. We walk them through each of those steps, so they aren’t on their own.”

She explained that it would also guide people to the different available resources for them to utilize, including those from Community Futures Yellowhead East. “It’s also a great place for businesses that are established to go and learn a little bit about changes or policies or permits that are in the community,” explained Hough. Both home-based businesses and brick-and-mortar locations could utilize the help on the webpage.

Coming up a bit later in the year, the group looks to focus on trade shows, both locally and provincially, to boost marketing and promotional opportunities, as restrictions allow. Richards said they are “focusing on how we can celebrate our community and promote it to residents from other communities.” She said they are also focusing on the downtown core and “how we can revitalize it to increase foot traffic, investment, (and) tourism into our community.” Council unanimously voted to adopt the 2022 Economic Development Strategic Plan.