The first in a series of “community cafés” to discuss the future of the Central Alberta Economic Partnership will take place on Wednesday in Red Deer.
CAEP and 12 other regional economic development alliances in Alberta learned in February that the province is reducing their annual funding and will no longer provide them with administrative staff and office space.
In the case of CAEP, which has 43 municipal members and 14 associate members across Central Alberta, it was decided to seek input from the organization’s stakeholders — including businesses and members of the public — before deciding how to operate with less.
Five meetings are planned between April 27 and May 16, beginning with tomorrow’s gathering at the Scott Block Heritage Building in Red Deer from 3 to 5 p.m.
The other sessions, which are being called community cafés, are scheduled:
• May 3 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Olds College Atrium in the Land and Science Building;
• May 10 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Wetaskiwin Memorial Arts Centre;
• May 12 from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Stettler Recreation Centre *ultipurpose Room;
• May 16 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Rocky Mountain House Arena Complex Youth Hall.
Participants are asked to RSVP at eventcoordinator@caepalberta.com, but such notice is not essential to attend.
CAEP said in a release that the objective of the facilitated meetings is to “identify, discuss and prioritize emerging opportunities while ensuring our regional businesses and communities remain competitive.”
The provincial cuts will result in each regional economic development alliance being eligible for $75,000 in matching funds, down from the $100,000 they previously received and which was not tied to fundraising.
The administrative support ended on April 1.
Transitional funding has been made available to help the alliances deal with the transition.
Red Deer South MLA Cal Dallas, who is parliamentary assistant for Alberta Finance and Enterprise, said previously that the changes were made so that department resources could be deployed more broadly.