The town of Westlock released an outline for future economic development over the next five years as part of economic development week.
The town’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) aims to provide a framework for greater economic development in the Westlock area from 2025 to 2030. The CEDS aims to assess the economic framework of Westlock and assist local businesses, residents and stakeholders in implementing their economic strategies.
The CEDS identified its focus on the sectors of agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, tourism and academic partnerships.
The CEDS is currently in its developmental stages and laid out a roadmap for the coming months until its planned launch in November.
This will begin with the gathering of information regarding perceptions of Westlock’s economic landscape in step one.
Step two will be the exploration of future scenarios and implications through surveys in the Westlock community from June to August. This will include surveys of Grade 11 and 12 students, online surveys and door-to-door engagement.
Step three will be the draft of the plan itself based on all the information gathered during the summer months and will be completed in September. This stage of the plan will include grant applications for the strategic priorities identified.
Step four will be the full development of the plan’s strategic roadmap in October following some revisions to the draft which will lead to step five, the plan’s ultimate launch in November.
“This project would usually take probably around two years, but we are trying to have a strategy before the election,” said Westlock Economic Development Officer Davis Prizgintas at the most recent town council meeting on May 20.
Mayor Jon Kramer inquired at the meeting on how the plan would relate to the regional economic development in the county in recent years.
“I think there will be a lot of collaboration opportunities. I think tons of organizations that we have in the community are already intertwined,” said Prizgintas. “Working on a smaller scale focusing on the town doesn't prevent us trying to scale out. I think sometimes businesses that operate in the county operate in that town too. They probably have very similar perspectives on what is needed in this region and I think there will be plenty of different projects that we can collaboratively work on.”
The CEDS will mainly be focussed on developing the town’s already existing businesses rather than attracting new businesses.
