BONNYVILLE – The MD of Bonnyville received a presentation from McSweeney and Associates Consulting Inc. to present an Industrial Gap Analysis, during their July 8 council meeting.
According to McSweeney’s website, they are “boutique consulting firm” that helps clients “sustain and grow their communities” by offering realistic solutions to local development challenges and opportunities.
McSweeney President Ian Duff and Director of Research and Innovation Kevin McPhillips gave the presentation virtually and explained that they have been working with the MD of Bonnyville staff for about a year.
“[We’ve] been going through some of the previous work that you’ve done around your target sectors – looking at any gaps, looking at where folks can improve in terms of your investment attraction and investment readiness,” said Duff.
The Industrial Gap Analysis presentation was included as a document in the agenda, and included a set of priority actions that aim to guide investment attraction activities, with a focus on the Canadian Armed Forces procurement, energy, renewable technologies, protein and agricultural technologies, and tourism, which Duff said are still valid sectors that should be focused on.
“Your five target sectors are still valid . . . There's no reason to look anywhere else. They still make sense. It's just how do you continually work within the community to make sure that you would give a business the best opportunity to invest within the MD?” said Duff.
Duff was ardent in his praise of the MD's “experienced” economic development team and spoke to the work that has already been done to sustain and grow the community.
“There’s a lot of work going on withing the MD. This is a good news story specifically from an investment-attraction perspective, and an overall economic development perspective. You folks are going down the right road. The gap analysis that we undertook told us that you folks are doing the right things. It just takes a bit of time – but you’re committed, and you’re invested and that’s a big deal,” said Duff.
He continued to speak about how the MD’s economic development team is already engaging the community and the province, doing the necessary networking and outreach to promote the MD, and has been prompt in following through with solutions the McSweeney team suggested.
Duff explained the three phases of the Industrial Gap Analysis.
“The first phase [looks at] what's going on in the community - taking a look at what's been done in the past. Phase two is looking at the MD from a policy perspective - so what does your land use policies look like? How do you folks actually deliver economic development? That kind of stuff. [Phase three] was sitting down with your team and saying what realistically can you do? What are some priority actions that need to happen, and where you can really make a huge impact with respect to your investment attractiveness in these sectors,” said Duff.
Through this process, Duff said it was apparent that council is supportive of economic development, though highlighted some issues around workforce.
“You are a working blue collar community, which is a good thing because there's lots of activity within Alberta for those types of jobs that you have, but there also appears to be some shortage of labour, and that shortage of labour is a result of a bunch of different things, whether it be youth out-migration, housing, or just a transition in some of the employment that's there, there is a bit of a shortage of workers right now,” said Duff.
He explained that they did not find any barriers within the MD’s policies that would deter development or investment into any of the sectors, though they did speak about the MD’s “evolving” industrial commercial land inventory.
“When I say inventory of land, I mean land that's on the market that could be developed. So that takes time to develop, and your economic development team is currently working on it,” said Duff.
He said the MD has made some good moves, but economic development always takes time.
Duff spoke about two actionable items.
“One of them is your supply of industrial land or employment land. As I mentioned, it's a constant evolution. Some land might be on the market this month but be taken off. [It's about keeping] an eye on what’s out there, so if an investor comes along, you can present them real opportunities where they can actually invest, develop, or start a business,” said Duff.
The other actionable item centered around continuous engagement with the MD’s business community.
“That’s very labour intensive. It takes a lot of time, and your economic development team knows that this is something they need to do.”
Duff spoke about the validity of seeking outside investors but encouraged the MD to direct their efforts towards seeing how people within the MD can reinvest.
“Look at using a lot of your investment attraction efforts to milk investments from within. Continue with your business outreach and your survey program to build that connection with your local community. It's important that these relationships and these networks get strengthened over time because really that's where most of the investment is going to come from,” said Duff.
He spoke about engaging with local businesses and making it easier for them to do business in Cold Lake too, as Duff said there are lots of opportunities there.
Duff advised the MD to create a “investor focused community profile,” which is a document the MD could give to investors, that outlines their investment readiness.
Duff’s final suggestion was to keep improving the MD’s website.
“That's your eyes on the world. So, the more improvements you can make, the more information you can get up there, the more you can keep it up to date, the better it is to attract and retain investment within the MD,” said Duff.
Coun. Dana Swigart asked if it is advisable for municipalities to own land that has industry potential.
Duff responded by saying that it does happen, but you need to do the groundwork to know your market and land supply.
“It’s an excellent question that there is no one answer to. You need to understand what your supply is first - and if your supply matches up with the sectors that you're trying to attract.”
Duff suggested the MD is not quite ready to venture into becoming land developers as there are risks, but that it could be something worth pursuing in the future.
Council accepted the presentation as information.
