A chance to help established city businesses

By Letter to the Editor on April 25, 2018.

The powers that be at City Hall have to revisit the discussion of, in some way, trying to reduce the financial hardship imposed on operating businesses at the local airport caused by the total shutdown of their business for thirty days due to upgrades to the runways. One such business is Super T Aviation.

It’s plausible that the city kicked in $6,500,000 to land the Aurora Sun plant. Concessions for utilities have previously been given to other new greenhouse operations, Bitcoin developments, etc. In this day and age, that is standard practice when municipalities anywhere across North America want to attract new businesses. In Super T’s case, maybe tax relief should be offered.

Super T, which has operated in one form or another in Medicine Hat for many years will have a financial drain of hundreds of thousands of dollars created by the total shutdown of the airport.

Recently, Super T expanded their operation by opening an International Flight Training Center in Medicine Hat. Do you not think that if Super T threw in the towel and decided to relocate, Brandon, Man., Moose Jaw. Sask., or Claresholm, Alta., would certainly provide some form of financial assistance?

Maybe other established businesses should also have been given similar consideration when impacted by the infrastructure upgrades to the downtown core, even though they didn’t have to suffer a total shutdown.

Let’s help those who have helped and added greatly to our city over the years.

In the words of my ol’ Granpappy, “you dance with the one who brung ya.” Or “you take care of the old hens before you take care of the new hens.”