BARRHEAD - The County of Barrhead hopes to host an economic trade show highlighting the area, specifically its businesses and tourism opportunities.
Whether they will or not will largely depend on whether the municipality successfully receives a provincial Small Community Opportunity Program (SCOP) grant.
SCOP is a provincial initiative that provides up to $100,000 to help communities solve challenges and take advantage of unique opportunities available in rural communities. Successful applicants must provide 10 per cent of the grant's value.
Eligible communities must be smaller than 20,000, be at least 100 kilometres from the nearest population centre that has a population greater than 25,000, have in them or be close to land that has significant natural resources such as oil or gas, agricultural or wilderness lands.
During their Dec. 19 meeting, councillors instructed administration to apply for up to $40,000 of SCOP funding.
The application deadline is Jan. 9, and if successful, the trade show will take place in the summer of 2024.
County manager Debbie Oyarzun said that events to qualify for SCOP funding must include educational and collaboration components.
She added that the Economic and Community Develop Committee (ECDC) had been investigating how the municipality could host an event to "get businesses together to collaborate, learn and reconnect".
Oyarzun noted that administration staff had identified multiple guest speakers to fulfill the educational requirement.
"The thing that kept popping up [during the ECDC discussions] was that elevator pitch on how people can sell or promote their business, attract further investment ... and how we can give businesses the tools to make that pitch," she said.
As for the collaboration component, Oyarzun said they would fill the requirement through workshops where businesses can network and find ways to work together to expand their businesses.
"They also wanted to get the public involved with a tradeshow component to entice businesses to attend with the potential for increasing their marketing or even potential sales," she said.
Oyarzun added that although SCOP casts a vast blanket and intends to target small businesses and those in the agriculture and tourism industries, it is not eligible for regional projects.
Development officer Jenny Bruns said the SCOP initiative is part of the province's overall plan to increase economic development in rural and small communities and aligns with their strategic goals of supporting rural businesses and entrepreneurship, as well as for labour and skills development, while at the same time, marketing and promoting rural tourism and building rural economic capacity.
"[The idea came from ECDC] who were talking about ideas that would bring some spirit and excitement back into the business community and get everyone talking again," she said.
From there, Bruns said, administration took some of the ECDC concepts and ideas and looked for ways to fit them into the SCOP grant requirements.
She also talked to the Barrhead and District Chamber of Commerce, the Barrhead Business Support Network and Community Futures Yellowhead East, and all supported the concept.
Coun. Walter Preugschas suggested that while he realizes the event cannot be regional, it would be a good idea to involve GROWTH Alberta, more notably its WILD Alberta tourism brand.
Oyarzun agreed, saying the organization could attend the event as a participant.
GROWTH Alberta, founded in 2001, is one of nine Regional Economic Development Alliances (REDA) in the province. Their purpose is to create economic growth through marketing.
At one time, GROWTH's membership roster was in the teens, but in recent years, that number has dwindled. It has three members: Woodlands County, Swan Hills and Mayerthorpe. The county opted out of GROWTH in the spring. However, although they are no longer a member, Preugschas is still involved with the organization and noted WILD had resumed operating after a period when they did not have a director.
Deputy reeve Marvin Schatz asked why they only applied for a $20,000 grant. He also asked if the event would be open to the public or just the businesses attending the event.
Bruns said it would be a hybrid, with the businesses attending the guest speakers and/or workshops, but there would also be time set aside for the public to see what the companies had to offer.
As for why they opted for $20,000, Bruns said after doing some research, they believed that is what they could host the event for.
She added the most significant expense would be the speakers.
"A lot of it we could find partnerships or sponsors for. For instance, the venue, the [Town of Barrhead], may decide to comp the Agrena as part of their contribution," Bruns said.
Schatz said he would rather increase the application amount than underestimate the costs and try to compensate for it through sponsorships or other means.
"We haven't had much of this in our community, especially of late, so if we are going to do it, let's do it good," he said.
He also suggested that they refrain from assuming the town would donate the cost of using the Agrena, saying the facility rental should be part of the budget.
Oyarzun said, in the end, it is up to council if they would up the application, but added currently, the ECDC has budgeted $2,000, noting if they decided to increase it, they would need to find the extra municipal contribution.
Coun. Paul Properzi agreed, moving that apply to a maximum of $40,000.
