Kansas City, Mo. isn’t a place one would normally consider for a fishing trip.
But a group from Central Alberta cast their lines there last week and are optimistic a few big catches could result.
Cyril Cooper, the City of Red Deer’s economic development officer; Erin Gates, an economic development specialist with Red Deer Regional Economic Development; and Danielle Klooster, manager of policy, advocacy and communications with the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce, were in Kansas City May 18 to 20 for Futurallia — an international business development forum.
Held at different locations every year, Futurallia allows representatives of businesses and other organizations to network face to face. Cooper, Gates and Klooster attended the 2011 event to pitch Central Alberta.
Cooper said they participated in about 30 meetings, with these involving businesses in sectors and locations that have been identified as prime targets for foreign direct investment in this region. Specifically, they focused on American and European companies active in manufacturing, agri-food processing, or logistics and transportation.
The local trio described Central Alberta and the business opportunities here, and provided marketing materials and other resources to the people they met.
“It really is relationship development,” said Cooper, describing how many of the people he met previously had no idea where Central Alberta was.
But some became very interested in the region after learning about it.
“Since we’ve gotten back, I’ve already had a couple emails,” said Cooper.
The next step is to try to arrange for these prospects to visit here.
Also taking part in Futurallia were representatives of Central Alberta Web Development Inc. and The Agri-Trend Group of Companies, two local businesses. They participated in their own networking meetings.
More than 800 businesses from 30 countries took part in Futurallia 2011.
The event was an excellent opportunity to raise the profile of Central Alberta on an international level, said Cooper.
“It’s hard to measure that, but the impact is significant.”
hrichards@www.reddeeradvocate.com