Sundre councillors are being offered a $3,000 course at no charge from Economic Developers Alberta (EDA) to educate them on their role in economic development.
Taking the course is one of the recommendations in the Economic Disaster Recovery Project (EDRP) report provided by EDA and the British Columbia Economic Development Association (BCEDA) for the community of Sundre.
Council reviewed the report during the meeting on March 10.
In response to the 2013 floods across the province, EDA and the BCEDA partnered to develop the EDRP.
“Through the EDRP, teams of volunteer economic development and economic disaster recovery experts conducted impact assessments to support business resumption and economic recovery for 10 communities directly impacted by the flood,” reads the report.
“Each assessment identifies economic recovery challenges and recommends best practices, assistance resources and economic development tools that can help accelerate business resumption and improve economic resiliency.”
The team visited Sundre on Dec. 3, when members conducted focus group discussions with elected officials, members of the business community and other community representatives.
They also participated in a business walk, conducting on-site interviews with individual business owners.
According to the report, Sundre businesses were impacted from the flood by decreased recreational use of the Eastern Slope region following the flood.
“This was due to damage to land adjacent to waterways and to access routes into the area, almost all of it outside the municipality,” reads the report.
“It was also due to the preoccupation of the market (recreationists) with assisting friends and families rebuild after the floods across a large area of Alberta.”
Sundre suffered from the flood in various ways. The rodeo was postponed, which caused a decreased number of entries.
“The biggest challenge for Sundre post-flood is recreation. Many of its trails have not yet returned to pre-flood conditions and some may never recover completely,” reads the report.
“The largest campground in the community was out of commission for most of the summer.”
The report lists strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in Sundre. Based on those, recommendations are suggested.
Some of the strengths include outdoor amenities, medical services, schools, events, clubs, low crime and the oil and gas industry.
Some of the weaknesses include not enough to offer to young families, limited overnight accommodation, few options for seniors and a need for better signage.
Opportunities include future development, downtown revitalization, economic diversification, and encouraging more activity, events and programming downtown.
Threats include business uncertainty, future flooding, and the fact that the town is surrounded by bridges and rivers.
“While only a few businesses were flooded directly by water, all were impacted indirectly by impacts to tourist infrastructure and outside perceptions about whether the town was open for business,” reads the report.
Recommendations in the report include creating a position for business and economic development in the Emergency Operations Centre and developing an economic development profile.
The profile would include a community overview, demographic profile, labour analysis, description of major economic drivers, cost of doing business, and transportation and infrastructure assets.
Implementing a Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) Program is also recommended.
“The flood and the potential for future flooding has accelerated the need to retain and grow existing businesses. A formal BRE program helps to identify challenges, issues and trends within the business community in order to be more proactive in the future.”
The program should include short-term objectives like addressing urgent business concerns and issues, improving communication between the community and local businesses, and retention of businesses and jobs where there is a risk of closure.
It should also include long-term objectives, like increasing the competitiveness of local businesses, job creation and new business development, and establishing strategic actions for local economic development.
Workforce planning is also recommended.
“A workforce strategy should help address major issues around the availability and retention of the local workforce for businesses that continue to operate in the community. Part of the strategy could include addressing housing and transportation issues.”
Updating the marketing strategy for tourism and local businesses by adding better signage, walking tours and a “shop local” program is also recommended.
According to the report, many business owners in town do not have insurance policies that cover overland flooding or business interruption.
Therefore, it is recommended for town officials to collaborate with provincial and federal officials to host insurance workshops for the local business community.
“Incorporating individual businesses, trade organizations, economic and workforce support services into emergency planning creates a community that is better prepared for, and resilient to major natural disasters, and other potential economic disruptions,” reads the report.
It is also recommended to develop an economic resiliency plan, which would address communications and information sharing, roles and responsibilities of partners, and how the region could work more collaboratively on response and recovery efforts.
“If Sundre wishes to succeed and become more resilient, it must take steps towards establishing a stronger local economy with disaster risks in mind.”
