OLDS — To help spur the local economy, Olds and area should build on what’s already here – high speed internet and a strong agricultural sector, economic development officer Sandra Blyth says.
Blyth gave that advice during an appearance before Olds town council.
She said Olds and area have several assets that could attract companies.
One is internet and related technologies available through the town’s municipally-owned corporation. Another is the fact that the community is adjacent to Highway 2, a major north-south transportation corridor. The railway also runs through town.
In addition, Olds College and its Smart Farm are providing world class education and research.
“There’s these huge opportunities here. We’ve just got to connect the dots in some areas. And once we do that, it can be huge,” she said.
In addition, Blyth said the catchment area surrounding Olds has a population of about 1.2 million people.
“This is a huge asset for us to be able to access talent,” she said.
Blyth noted she’s been in the economic development business for roughly 23 years, working for governments as well as municipalities.
“Your college is very successful, unlike many other colleges across Canada, because they identified agriculture, agri-tech, agri-business, as a speciality area because it’s a driving industry in this area,” she said.
"I’ve got to tell you, when I saw the Smart Farm and met with the college, that was like, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me.’
“We’ve got communities across Canada that are applying to government to be called a smart community. They don’t have a sniff of what you have here.”
Blyth said because Olds has locally-owned fibre technology, it could look at creating all kinds of marketable technologies and products.
For example, she said streetlights could be automated, or products that analyze the use of salt and gravel on roads and record the pace at which those roads deteriorate could be developed and marketed.
"We’re small, which means we’re nimble, right? We can do more than big cities can do because we are small and we can test these really cool things. And we’ve got a college that’s all over it already,” she said.
