Mountain View County's economic development and tourism advisory committee has drawn up an ambitious six-year plan that would see the county become a major supplier of bioenergy feedstocks and the location for a biorefinery industry cluster.The plan also calls for the establishment of a regional market selling farm-to-plate items.Presented to council's policies and priorities committee on June 22, the strategic plan ìwill hopefully lead to secondary processing and tertiary processing ñ and tertiary processing is where the real wealth is generated,î committee chair David Doyle told P&P.Under primary agriculture its goal is to make the county a ìsignificant supplierî of bioenergy feedstocks after identifying feedstocks related to ìbiodiesel, ethanol and associated lubricants.îIt also calls for diversifying primary production into niche markets after identifying the potential of enterprises such as ìhoney farms, tree farms, berry farms and insects relating to organic production and nutraceuticals.îUnder secondary agricultural processing, the plan's goal is to divert a portion of production into value-added after identifying the feasibility of ìmanure-commercial fertilizer, special crop cleaning, berry, honey, grain beverages and processed meat products.îThe regional farmers' market would be a form of tertiary processing, and one of the plan's strategic objectives is to establish a pilot market in the county.ìI counted seven studies in your tactical objectives for the first year,î Div. 7 Coun. Al Kemmere said. ìIs that feasible?îìWe're going to prioritize our tactical objectives,î Doyle said.He also pointed to the committee's evaluation process and said the committee ìwill re-evaluate the matrix accordingly. The matrix is a very fluid document.îOther goals listed in the plan include:ï Developing the Olds-Didsbury Airport ìto the level that it efficiently services the regional energy industry.îï Establishing retail biofuels centres adjacent to Highway 2.ï Fostering ìan integrated tourism cluster that would offer four-season venues and amenities.îï Encouraging the development of a regional tourism association to replace the defunct Prairies to Peaks.ï Leading advocacy efforts for a business incubation facility ìthat would extend the tenets of business culture through business development assistance,î targeting ìyouthful and new Canadian entrepreneurs.îï Holding one business-related conference per year in the county.The plan is the result of about 180 hours volunteered by committee members, economic development officer Doug Erdman said.
