Business Vitality Initiative coming to Strathmore
Business Vitality Initiative is being completed in Strathmore to help further Strathmore’s growth.
The Town of Strathmore, Community Futures Wild Rose, Strathmore & District Chamber of Commerce and Wheatland Business Women have all teamed up and have accessed $10,000 in seed funding through the Alberta Urban Municipalities
Association to sponsor a BVI in Strathmore.
A BVI is a facilitated measurement and action process that helps communities harness their business potential.
“Strathmore’s ripe for development,” said Jennifer Brooks, from Community Futures Wild Rose. “There’s a lot of really knowledgeable and community-minded folks in town and we want to engage them to help make Strathmore the best place to live and work.”
Strathmore was one of six communities in the province to take part in a BVI this year.
“We were one of the successful communities, so we’re very pleased to be part of this,” said Brooks.
Other communities have spent money on beautification, downtown revitalization and marketing campaigns as their initiative.
To decide on the initiative, an invitation-only assessment meeting has been set for April 29 to take a sampling of local businesses. Community leaders and other representatives from the community will take part in a focus group and questionnaire.
“It’s a lot easier to do the process with 30 to 50 people than with 200 people,” said Brooks. “That’s why we want to focus on those who have been involved with other initiatives, who are community leaders and connected with others in the community on many levels, so we can get a good cross-section on what’s happening in our community and so we can move forward.”
The first meeting will be facilitated by the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, who will assess the answers after the first meeting and report back to the community at a second public open house held six to eight weeks after the first session.
“The second meeting is open to all members of the community and we really want a good turnout because that second meeting, people will be determining the priorities,” said Brooks. “It very much depends on what comes from the community at the meetings we hold.”
The goal of this process is to help communities assess their capacity to work with and support entrepreneurs, to foster business growth so that a community is an attractive place to live and work.
“The town is undertaking a number of studies and there is some interest and drive from folks and businesses in the community to really make ourselves an attractive community for development,” said Brooks. “But, it goes beyond business. An attractive community means you need to look at your school systems and recreational opportunities. This is a way to tie all those together.”