Town launches business needs assessment to support local economy
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Town of Strathmore has launched a new approach to addressing the needs of local businesses, and fostering economic growth with the start of a business needs assessment.
Recognizing economic development as one of their top priorities in the 2022-25 Strategic Plan, the town aims to foster growth and enhance economic development.
“We also recognize that the economy is tough right now, there are workforce challenges, supply chain issues, housing shortages, and all of these things affect our businesses,” said Mayor Pat Fule in a release. “We need a clear picture of where we should start and a plan on how to support local businesses and intentionally position for sustainable growth.”
Town of Strathmore Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Kevin Scoble explained the assessment is a process designed to gather information and insight from participating businesses.
The idea being to better understand the needs, challenges and available opportunities to local businesses and their proprietors.
“By engaging with the businesses and getting their input, the town can better understand their current economic situation, and that helps us to allocate our resources in the most effective way to enable the businesses and contribute to their success,” he said. “Economic development is one of the town’s top priorities … and so as part of that priority, an outcome is to achieve a healthy and resilient business community.”
Having collected local business and economic data pre, and during COVID-19, Scoble added the town is now looking to collect post-pandemic data in order to better understand what has changed and what some of the new challenges and opportunities are for businesses.
Partnering with InnoVisions and Associates, the Town of Strathmore intends to engage with local businesses through events such as Business Cafes, one on one interviews, and discussion groups.
“The Town of Strathmore is committed to providing a business-friendly environment and opportunities for local businesses to thrive. We need comprehensive information about our local businesses to make informed decisions and support their success,” said Angela Groeneveld, economic sustainability and investment officer with the Town of Strathmore. “By creating an action plan that keeps existing businesses in the community, preserves jobs, and creates new employment opportunities, we will work with the business community and regional partners to understand the economic situation and come up with a plan to allocate resources effectively.”
The first Business Café was hosted with roughly 50 businesses in attendance at the Strathmore Station, July 6, to kick off the process and begin gathering data. The event also served as a networking opportunity for those in attendance.
“We have put economic development on steroids, so to speak … we have got some top-notch economic development people from Southern Alberta working for us now so we are taking a fresh eyes approach to it,” said Scoble.
The results of the assessment are scheduled to come out this fall, likely in September or October, prior to the start of town budget discussions. The outputs of the assessment will contribute to identifying the economic needs of the upcoming year.