BONNYVILLE – The Town of Bonnyville is ready for a new look and the municipality wants residents to help determine what the future brand of the town will be.
A rebranding engagement session is open to all members of the public on Feb.1. It will be held at the St. Louis Parish Hall from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
“When we talk about going out and selling ourselves or being recognized or just celebrating our uniqueness, a lot of that does come from branding,” Mayor Elisa Brosseau told Lakeland This Week.
“We put out tenders, we got proposals... We've hired consultants and now we are hitting the road running.”
The Town of Bonnyville has contracted Stormy Lake Consulting, an independent consultant, to initiate conversations between residents and municipal planners to discover how the community sees itself, how others view the town, and how residents want to be reflected in community.
This “brand refresh process” will lead to a shared understanding of Bonnyville’s story, states the municipality’s website.
“The current branding for the town, if you see our flag, if you see our tagline, the colours that we use, that was all done in a process back in the 1990s,” Brosseau said. “Our community has changed, and it’s time the municipality changes along with it.”
The rebranding process is going to be very in depth, said the mayor, adding the end results will be heavily impacted by residents’ input.
Town council has been working toward rebranding since its first strategic planning session in late 2021.
In the 2022 capital budget, $75,000 was earmarked for rebranding. All unspent funds from last year’s budget will be carried over into the 2023 budget, confirmed Renee Stoyles, the Town’s general manager of corporate services.
Additionally, the municipality has budgeted $100,000 for economic development initiatives for 2023 that will coincide with the Economic Development Strategy being completed this year as well.
Brosseau added that whatever the municipality’s new brand becomes, the hope is that people from outside the community will easily and quickly associate it with the Town of Bonnyville.
Those interested in taking part in the engagement session will have to register online by Monday, Jan. 30 at 11:30 a.m. through a link available on the Town’s website.
If residents have any questions or concerns about registering, they can call the Town’s main office.
The Town encourages community members who don’t have access to a computer to take advantage of the computers available at the Bonnyville Municipal Library to sign up.
