There's no better place to do business in southern Alberta than Olds, according to Alberta Venture magazine.
In its November issue, the business-focused magazine ranked Olds third in its 2013 Best Communities for Business in Alberta feature, behind Fort McMurray in first place and Grande Prairie in second place.
“Little old Olds – with its 8,235 people (the smallest community examined in this year's rankings), its new hotel and conference centre and its 1,000 Mbps broadband speed (that's five high-definition videos at once, you understand) – is right in the thick of the population boom,” the feature states.
The rankings were based on a point system focused on six areas such as a community's non-residential tax rate and the number of people who have post-secondary education in the community.
In Olds' case, the non-residential tax rate, or mill rate, is 5.54 and 56 per cent of the population has post-secondary education.
“Considering that the town also has a pretty good non-residential municipal tax rate (finishing seventh in that category), a college (two points), and a nice proximity to Calgary if you do need an occasional taste of the city (and are willing to battle your way down the Deerfoot), pretty much any business could put a spring in its step in Olds.”
Mayor Judy Dahl said when she heard of the ranking Olds received in the magazine, she “wasn't surprised at all.”
“Just looking around and feeling the energy of this community, we have such proactive people and people plugged in to knowing what we need in this community,” she said.
The Town of Olds began to put greater emphasis on economic development and business attraction about nine years ago, Dahl added, and she credits town-owned services such as the O-NET fibre-to-the-premises service and Mountain View Power as major factors in making the community attractive to business.
She also said she felt the Uptowne Olds committee deserves recognition for its role in business attraction and retention.
“This proves what we've been saying all along that this is a good place to do business,” said Leon Durand, chair of the Uptowne Olds committee.
He said he agreed the community-based services, along with Olds' prime location between Calgary and Red Deer on Highway 2 and the town's numerous recreational and cultural amenities are the reason the town is so attractive to businesses.
“When I look at other communities, I think, where would I live if I didn't live in Olds?” Durand said. “I've been saying this to myself for 34 years since I've moved here. And I've had a tough time trying to come up with a place that has everything (Olds) has.”
But he added the committee and the larger business community could not function without the support of the town.
“If you're going to have partnerships, you need everybody pointing in the same direction. And I think what this town does so well is, they look at how can we improve our town, how can we make it attractive to businesses that are here and attract new businesses here.”
Durand said members of town council and town staff attend the committee's meetings and communicate well with local businesses and the town has also worked hard to maintain competitive tax rates for businesses.
He also said the town is working closely with the committee to ensure there are minimal disruptions to businesses during utility repairs next summer on 50 Avenue.
Mike Ganley, the editor of Alberta Venture, said information used for the rankings was taken from Alberta Municipal Affairs and Statistics Canada and this was the first year the rankings were specific to Alberta— and not all of Western Canada— and were not focused on specific industries.
He added the ranking scheme is not an “exact science,” but they give businesses, communities and investors an idea of the business climate in a community.
“We still think it's of use to our readership, business owners, to get a sense of how their community does on these various criteria and how communities fare and get those comparables out there,” Ganley said.
This is the sixth year the magazine, which has a readership of more than 160,000 business owners and entrepreneurs, has released the rankings and next year it intends to include labour costs in the rankings.
As for how Olds could reach the No. 1 spot, Dahl said the community is almost there
“We need to continue to trust that what we're doing is going to work. We don't need to have people say that where we're going is going to fail. It's never going to fail. We're going to make this work. It's going to be a win-win situation any way we go,” she said. “And I'm talking about any venture that we try. The key uniqueness to Olds is that we do believe in ourselves and our volunteers are truly passionate.
“I think we'll be No. 1 in the next five years.”
