Investing in local capital means getting a bunch of smart business people together to come up with economically viable ideas and then financially backing them, and this is just what the Town of Athabasca needs for a surge of economic development, according to a new local group.
The Athabasca Opportunity Development Cooperative (AODC) is a for-profit group formed earlier this year by founding members Noel Major of Servus Credit Union and Mike Gismondi, an Athabasca University researcher, among others, to explore the prospect of a local project in which to invest.
The other founding members include Penny Semashkewich, Dawn Minns, Rob Balay, Lois Robocon, Walter Cummings, Brad Breckenridge, John Ollerenshaw and Dave Liddell.
“We’re different from the other (community co-ops). They all have a project that they want to get up and running. (In) our community, we didn’t see anything glaring out there that needed to be dealt with, so we said, ‘We’re going to do this a little differently. We’re going to form our co-op, then we are going to go to the community and have them come back to us with proposals (for development),’” said Major.
The AODC held an informational meeting last Wednesday at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex, where at least 50 members of the public and Athabasca business community turned out to learn more about how the AODC works and how to get in on the capital investment in town.
“There’s some nice pieces of land in Athabasca just sitting there that the town owns, you know? And we should be thinking creatively about how to partner up and fill the gaps in our community with different multi-stakeholder partnerships,” said Gismondi.
Local investment in the community is prudent because, in part, “it … supports community independence through business development; facilitates the sharing of local business acumen, expertise and connections; (and) keeps money earned in the Athabasca area circulating locally,” according information handed out to those who attended the public meeting.
Major explained AODC membership is $500 and is only available to family, business associates, or friends of founding members. Members get to vote on which projects get funding.
Investment shares are $1,000 and are only available to members. A minimum of five shares must be purchased, and a maximum of 50 investors are allowed for a project (typical projects would require $100,000 to $1 million in capital).
Major said the investor must be patient, as they may not see a return on investment for at least five years.
No possible projects were discussed at the meeting. Major suggested anyone with a project idea submit the idea to the AODC directors privately so that the idea would not be scooped by someone else.
A contact sign-up sheet was circulated, and AODC directors said they would keep everyone informed as the group gets closer to choosing a proposed project.
