The Central Alberta Economic Partnership received a big boost this week.
In a release Tuesday, the group said they got a $50,000 grant from CanExport Community Investment to expand CAEP’s Municipal Investment Attraction Readiness Program.
According to the release, the funding enables CAEP to hire expert consultants to conduct an opportunity analysis of the region and develop community and regional overviews and sector-specific profiles that can be used by any of CAEP’s 30 member municipalities to target new and expanding industries.
A workshop will bring CAEP members together to learn how to use the tools of the program to enhance their community investment attraction efforts.
“This funding will help municipalities right across Central Alberta to better attract business and industry and investment,” said James Carpenter chair of CAEP.
“We have been working extremely hard to attract investors, entrepreneurs and new business through a variety of international activities, and this investment from CanExport will give us the boost we need to develop specific industry attraction strategies and materials.”
Executive Director of CAEP Kimberley Worthington added: “The community and sector profiles help guide our regional marketing activities.
“A lot has changed in Alberta since 2018 when these sector profiles were last updated. The timing of this research and material coincides with CAEP’s recently completed Regional Economic Growth Strategy. We’re excited to put these pieces together and start engaging alongside our communities to source new opportunities.”
The consultants for the project, McSweeney and Associates, have extensive experience in Alberta including in the Yellowhead, Slave Lake, Cochrane and Strathcona. They helped with CAEP’s Municipal Investment Attraction Readiness Program which began in 2016 and this grant enables CAEP and its members to build upon the promising momentum of that project.
Formed in 1998, CAEP is a member-driven partnership that works to empower its member communities to advance sustainable regional economic development and prosperity in central Alberta.