BONNYVILLE – Residents of the MD of Bonnyville will have the opportunity to share their ideas about the future of the MD of Bonnyville through an online survey that is a part of a larger brand development initiative.
The initiative is focused on answering the question: What does a sustainable future look like for the MD of Bonnyville community?
The online survey will remain open to MD residents until June 30, and can be accessed through the municipality’s website.
While the survey seeks answers to what symbols, icons and themes best represent the municipality, it goes even further to asks respondents what a better name for the municipality would be, citing ongoing confusion between the MD of Bonnyville and the Town of Bonnyville.
“This initiative provides the MD of Bonnyville with a chance to have residents look back on 2023 as a year we stepped toward an ambitious future for the MD, and started to make it happen,” reads a statement attributed Reeve Barry Kalinski.
The 2022-2027 Council Strategic Plan identified a “dynamic” new brand to support economic development initiatives.
According to Kalinski, the brand development project isn’t about re-inventing the MD, it’s about interpreting existing plans to tell a compelling story about the future of the municipality.
Among the goals of the MD’s Strategic Plan is economic development and economic diversification. The plan includes the Bonnyville Regional Airport, Kinosoo Ridge Resort destination development, environmental protection, access to utilities including water and natural gas, recreation, and public safety.
Kalinski continued, “We want to have the words and images that talk about a dynamic and ambitious future. That conversation can lead to a local business expansion, or a new resident, business investment, or visitor to the community, which helps the MD to step into its full potential.”
The survey tells respondents, “You are likely to eventually see a refreshed website, some advertising, some new signage, and/or decals on a municipal vehicle. The bigger part you won’t see so readily is the work to develop vision and strategy that enables a community to step into an ambitious future.”
After the survey closes at the end of June, public engagement will take place in July, stated Tracy Wasylow, the communications and media supervisor for the MD.
Details on future engagements sessions are still being ironed out, she said.
The brand development initiative is anticipated to be completed by the end of August following the survey and “contribution[s] from a Brand Key Stakeholder Group via a set of workshops,” according to information provided by the MD.
The municipality has contracted Alberta-based marketing strategy company Unfussy to carry out the initiative.
