Business initiative pushes forward
Shannon LeClair – Times Reporter
The Business Vitality Initiative, BVI, group met on June 9 to discuss the results of the open house and survey, and discuss further actions.
Mike Stolte, the executive director for the Centre of Innovative and Entrepreneurial Leadership, CIEL, came to speak to residents about the results.
“It was interesting because it was exactly average,” said Stolte.
“We presented 12 different actions the community could move forward with. People at the meeting came up with three more.”
There were action teams formed to move the initiatives forward.
There is also an advisory committee made up of the four sponsoring organizations, and in the committee, are the Town, Wheatland Business Women, the Chamber of Commerce, and Community Futures Wild Rose.
“Strathmore ranked high in opportunities and attitudes, proving their can do attitudes can get anything done,” said Jennifer Brooks, Community Futures Wild Rose.
“In the roles of market and marketing and government and organization was where we ranked lowest. And so some of our activities are catered to that.”
Out of the 15 actions presented the top three were picked to move forward on. Business friendliness consultations were one of the actions picked. The group wants to increase awareness of local businesses and services so elected officials know the issues and concerns of the business community.
Downtown beautification is another. The group wants to make sure the downtown and commercial areas are vibrant and attractive to people.
“Kinsmen Park is a jewel of the community and by encouraging people to take advantage of the park we want to lure them into the downtown area, and we want it to be a pleasant experience for them,” said Brooks.
The last is trying to figure out whether an economic development officer, EDO, is needed.
“A lot of what came up is trying to coordinate different ventures, and so an EDO would try to provide those sort of linkages. Sometimes an EDO can help to move things along and can also help to bridge different groups,” said Stolte.
Stolte will be checking in at six weeks, three months and six months and possibly further along.
“I’ll be working through the advisory committee to try to keep projects on the rails, push them along and provide support when needed,” said Stolte. The economic development group is planning to meet and determine some ways to approach elected officials and advocate on behalf of an economic development function. Some of the projects won’t be started until the fall after the municipal election.