Chamber of Commerce and town reach funding agreement

Times Reporter

 

A few weeks ago the Strathmore and District Chamber of Commerce had asked for a $40,000 loan to upgrade the potential new office space in the Country Lane Mall. The space will be shared with MLA Jason Hale, and the Chamber also plans to apply to become the Visitor Information Centre for the area. 

On July 18, Chamber member Lin Walker presented council with the revamped figures. 

“There’s quite a variance, we came to council two weeks ago thinking it was going to cost about $40,000 and after we got all the figures in and such the total varies between just about $45,000 and over $60,000,” said Walker. 

“It’s going to cost us about $45,000 to have everything complete and we’re asking the town to provide us with $40,000 and $20,000 of that would be a partnership with the (Chamber)…basically you’re advancing us our business license fees at the rate of $4,000 per year for the next five years.”

Councillor Bob Sobol has a bit of a problem with the $20,000 partnership fee. He was interested in knowing if the Chamber would consider a loan of $40,000 paid back over 10 years. After some discussion and negotiation a motion was made to provide the Chamber with a grant of $10,000 and a loan of $30,000 to renovate and relocate to Country Lane Mall. The $30,000 will be repaid over seven years at $4,000 a year interest free. 

 

Explore Calgary Region website filled with new technology 

Troy Payne, Economic Development Officer for the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP), made a presentation to council about the new ‘Explore Calgary Region’ website. 

The site has been designed for the use of site selectors and investors both nationally and internationally to start putting the region on the map, in order to collectively showcase what’s available when it comes to commercial and industrial properties and buildings. 

As a member of the CRP Strathmore will be showcased on the website, along with the other 14 municipalities that are also members. Everything is based through Google Mapping, and simple search queries can be done to see if there is a building, or land available to suit a company’s needs.  

“This isn’t completely unique in the sense that there are data bases out there that realtors and brokers are already using,” said Payne. 

“What makes this unique is that it’s a regional approach and also that it’s the only site that shows available land.”

Interested parties could do a query search the entire region or could specify a particular community to look into office buildings, industrial buildings, retail buildings, warehouses or land.

A company called ZoomProspector, which has worked with 259 municipalities across the United States, created the technology that Payne said is fantastic. 

Ottawa was the first region in Canada to adapt the new site and technology and the CRP is now only the second. Payne said calls are coming in from other municipalities who have heard about what’s being done, and wanting to get on board.

“The potential of this is unlimited, this is only first few layers,” said Payne. 

The site, which is still being developed, is set to launch in September. At this time there is no additional cost to the municipalities.