BONNYVILLE – Earlier this year, the Town of Bonnyville council completed a strategic plan to help focus decision making over the next decade. The plan's main goals boil down to attracting new residents to town, supporting businesses and quality of life, and helping entrepreneurs thrive.
A new municipal website, investbonnyville.ca, hopes to spark additional economic activity.
“Our goal is to see all businesses in Bonnyville be successful and have the necessary resources available to them to do so,” said Mayor Elisa Brosseau, adding that economic development is one of the Town council’s strategic priorities.
The municipality's new website describes the town of Bonnyville as “a growing regional service center for Alberta’s oil and gas, agriculture, military and public services sectors.”
The site also highlights the town’s key infrastructure such as the Bonnyville hospital, schools, fibre internet service, regional waterline and proximity to the Bonnyville Regional Airport.
Bonnyville’s mayor and council see the expansion of business as a means to provide more services to its residents and the surrounding area.
The development of the Invest Bonnyville website is the first step of many that aim to improve the visibility of the town to the outside world, expressed Mark Laver, the economic development officer for the Town of Bonnyville.
“When developing the regional strategic economic development plan, we heard from many local businesses that they thought Bonnyville wasn’t well known beyond the immediate area,” noted Laver.
In a push to change that, the new website links potential investors and entrepreneurs with land and businesses currently for sale or lease in town, as well as a wide variety of resources available that may benefit local businesses hoping to expand or beautify their space, or for entrepreneurs wanting to set up shop.
The site also has a directory of all businesses operating in town.
Working in conjunction with council’s vision for the future, an Economic Development Committee has been established to explore ideas and programs to help redevelop the town’s downtown core to make it “a unique and vibrant area that provides an attractive and safe place for people to work, visit, shop and live,” describes the town’s website.
