Local man honoured for contributions to economic development group

Olds town councillor Harvey Walsh has been honoured by the Central Alberta Economic Partnership (CAEP) for his contributions to the community.

Walsh has been on the CAEP board representing Olds in various capacities since about 1998. He chaired its board of directors for the past three years. His term ended in late 2015. He is now off the board.

He served as an Olds business representative for the past 16 years and as a town representative after being elected to Olds council in 2001.

“As a small business owner in Olds, Harvey Walsh Photography, he has contributed to the economic growth of his community for more than twenty years,” a news release says.

Walsh has served as past president of the Olds Co-op, past chair of the Public Advisory Committee (PAC) on Economic Services for the Town of Olds, and is a founding member and past president of the Olds and District Chamber of Commerce.

The CAEP is a regional economic development alliance consisting of 37 municipal members and 11 associate members.

Walsh says he was pleased to be honoured by CAEP for his contributions.

“It was a nice feeling,” he says. The gift is nice. It's the kind words that are always humbling. It was sort of bittersweet. You've spent a lot of your time seeing it grow and develop; then you're stepping aside.”

Walsh says the CAEP is an important organization in Central Alberta.

“It creates a network between municipalities,” he says. They range from small summer villages up to Red Deer size.

“Larger communities, they can do their own economic development to a degree but when everybody's working together, when we bring in delegations from around the world, we're directing them to Central Alberta, not to Edmonton or Calgary.

“That's the big part of it – creating awareness and creating programs and training for – especially small communities. A lot of them – only about -- I don't know, seven or eight out of the 40 or so, have economic development officers.”

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