BREWD survey highlights various ideas for local economic development

By COLLIN GALLANT on July 15, 2020.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

A survey of business owners done before the coronavirus pandemic highlights some long-bandied about ideas for economic development – ideas that will become the subject of action plans even as the economic outlook is much less clear, say officials.

The Business Retention and Expansion Workforce Development (BREWD) survey was launched last summer as a partnership between the city’s Invest Medicine Hat business development wing, and several other business groups and institutions.

The goal was to help existing businesses grow and manage an expected labour crunch from then-burgeoning plans by Aurora Cannabis and others to hire huge numbers of Hatters.

Now, the cannabis sector is in the doldrums and in the early stages of recession caused by low energy prices and the coronavirus, but the issue of economic development is perhaps a higher priority.

The current plan is to push ahead in several areas outlined in the report this fall, said Sandra Blythe, a business development officer who is leading the project for the city.

“We went back (to agencies involved) and asked, based on the projects – and there were 41 based on the study – which ones can we move forward now, and six came from that which are currently having action plans developed,” she said following Monday’s announcement of a local project by Google Canada to offer web marketing services to local companies.

That initiative, involving several of the BREWD partners, like the Chamber of Commerce, APEX Alberta, and Community Futures Enter Corp., touches several theme areas in the report, say officials, including a need to educate business owners about technological change.

The entire report found that a strong majority of business owners were satisfied or happy with the level of local regulation, taxation, or other facets of the local economy.

About half of 500 respondents said they were already planning to expand or modernize existing operations. That included 24 companies that said they had near term plans to spend $1 million or more.

However, city elected officials told the News on Monday that more work needs to be done to support businesses, but economic development and major plant expansions are “long lead” propositions.

“I do think we’re headed in the right direction,” said Coun. Jim Turner.

From 500 responses to the survey, four themes were developed and working groups will begin plotting actions this fall ahead of a planned regional economic development conference in early 2021.

Major areas or “themes” were:

– Creating an “experiential” economy, including online presence for businesses while stressing a shop local campaign, expanding tourism and a potential rebranding of the “Gas City.”

– Attracting investment with potential development incentives, improving access to capital, prioritizing major municipal projects, creating an inventory listing of land holdings, and seeking out industrial cluster development;

– Improving regulatory conditions, such as development rules, creating a housing strategy, advocating for broadband infrastructure and tackling vacant buildings in downtown Medicine Hat

– Prepare for technological change by engaging business owners on technological issues and augmenting training programs, and creating a renewable energy strategy.

The 125-page report also summarizes concerns of labour market analysts and job seekers down last fall.

Related to labour, a general theme to build workforce capacity is four parts described as inform, attract, inform, retain, and develop in a changing job market to either attract or help existing workers gain job skills.

As for business concerns, a majority of those who took the survey are generally satisfied or “very satisfied” on all of a wide array of business issues.

When “neutral” responses are factored in, only a quarter of survey takers on most issues were unhappy.

Among top negative responsive were local taxes and fees (31 per cent), municipal budgeting and management (28 per cent), and the cost of telecommunications and internet service (40 per cent).

Blythe said the report was completed in late January, but since mid-March when the pandemic set in, the City’s office has been more focused on more immediate requests from businesses and linking them with government programs.

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