GROWTH Alberta will soldier on despite provincial funding cuts

GROWTH Alberta will have to make do with less.

GROWTH Alberta is one of the province’s nine Regional Economic Development Alliances (REDA). In the mid-1990s, the Alberta government decided there needed to be more coordination between several ad hoc community alliances. Its purpose is to create economic growth through marketing. It currently has 10 members, the County of Barrhead, Lac Ste. Anne County, Woodlands County, Swan Hills, Mayerthorpe, both Westlock municipalities, Clyde, Alberta Beach and the Village of Wabamun.

In recent weeks, County of Barrhead Coun. Walter Preugschas, who is the municipality's representative on GROWTH's board, said there is a rumour that the province was going to drastically cut its operating grant from approximately $100,000 to $50,000.

Unfortunately, executive director Troy Grainger said it is not a rumour.

"In February's provincial budget the government cut REDAs funding by 50 per cent," he said.

Grainger added that the government grant is not GROWTH's only funding source, citing the example of per capital membership fees which amount to about $45,000 annually.

"We are in the process of changing our staffing and business model, but the value we provide will remain the same. It is a matter of doing more with less," he said.

However, Grainger said that is something GROWTH has always done, noting they are in the business of leveraging their non-operational capital, i.e. membership fees, other government and private grants as well as other revenue sources.

"We usually end up averaging four to one creating essentially more dollars for our projects," he said.

One of the major focuses for several years is increasing economic activity by attracting tourism to the region. They mostly did this through their "Wild Alberta" brand. For many years this took the form of an informational magazine/brochure listing the region's tourist hotspots. This has now mostly transformed into a website.

"Not only helping operators with education and trying to attract visitors but tourism investment and maximizing the destinations that are out there," Grainger said, citing their promotion of Open Farm Days.

Open Farm Days is a two-day province-wide event to showcase local agricultural production.

More recently, GROWTH has been working on a history project, collecting local or regional stories.

"Every community has a campground and a golf course, but what we are trying to do is weave in our unique history so that when someone comes to the Wild Alberta region they have a one-of-a-kind experience," he said.

Admittedly tourism is going to be a challenge given the travel restrictions because of the coronavirus outbreak. And even as more of the restrictions are loosened, Grainger said it will be some time until people will be willing to travel outside their immediate area.

Which is why he said they have created investment profiles for all their members. Again a lot of that is done online, at the GROWTH Alberta website.

"This is something we were able to leverage with grant money and that comes at no additional cost to our members," Grainger said, noting this type of work often comes at a cost beyond what their members are able or willing to spend. "We do a lot of work behind the scenes. What we say is we don't bring smokestacks but we give our members and region the tools to attract industry."

Grainger said the region and the province will have a difficult time attempting to relaunch the economy as public health officials relax some of the restrictions due to COVID-19 and that is why he believes REDAs are more important than ever.

"We [REDAs and more specifically GROWTH] are going to be instrumental in the recovery," he said. "Disseminating what industry and business leakage there was, identifying gaps and weaknesses in supply chains ... this is something we can look at and bring to the region as well."

Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com

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