DIDSBURY - Town council has passed a motion authorizing administration to give notice through an exit letter that the municipality is withdrawing from the Central Alberta Economic Partnership (CAEP) organization.
The move came during the recent regularly scheduled Town of Didsbury council meeting, held by teleconference.
CAEP is made up of municipal representatives, business owners, and others in central Alberta. It promotes economic development and member networking, with the board of directors responsible for providing strategic direction.
Under the existing CAEP agreement, the exit letter authorizes the municipality to leave the organization in 12 months time.
The town’s annual fee to belong to the organization is $0.55 per capita, or about $3,000 for Didsbury.
“I don’t think it’s value for our money,” said mayor Rhonda Hunter. “We’ve been in it a long time and when we are still questioning why we are in it that says a lot. After three years of our term, we are still asking what the benefit of it is.”
She said the $3,000 memberships fee could be better directed to “more valuable use, like our economic development advisory committee, for training and consultations and workshops. We can direct that money there.
“It’s not a lot of money but it’s money that we can perhaps apply better for our community and for economic development in general.”
The town has other opportunities outside CAEP to network with area municipalities and business groups, she said.
“We have a lot of opportunities to network, with central Alberta mayors for example,” she said.
Asked if the town would reconsider its decision to leave within the next year, she said, “We have our economic development officer (EDO) doing some research and touching base with other EDOs in our area. If the report comes back from our EDO at the end of January that there is value and if he can convince council that there is value, then we will reconsider.”
CAEP executive director Kimberley Worthington says the organization will be trying to persuade Didsbury council to retain the municipality’s membership.
“We will make every attempt possible to get them to reverse their decision,” said Worthington. “I am a strong believer in member retention. It’s a lot easier to keep your members than it is to attract new ones.
“We really all need to band together and work collaboratively for the betterment of the entire region. Regional economic development is about what’s best for the entire region and how can we work together to benefit the entire region.”
