Baukultur, Culture and Recreation-led Economic Development: The value of developing Sundre, Alberta’s qualities of living and place

<p>What are the most important factors related to economic development? This paper explores the essential variables necessary for destination development and inward direct investment. These variables include: quality of living, quality of infrastructure, and quality of workforce. Quality of living is considered the most important of these to spur on economic development. Many business operators would rather live where they invest making quality of place an equally important variable that is intrinsically linked to quality of living. Destination development through place-building techniques, informed by the concept of <em>baukultur,</em>is assessed using quality of living, economic development and economic diversification as markers. Quality of living and quality of place are inherently connected when attracting business and growing employment, therefore, these two terms will be referred to as QLP throughout this paper.. Intended to help program and policy planners understand these concepts, this paper will explore cases of successful exercises of destination development that involve recreation and culture-oriented place building. The paper will then look at how to apply learned QLP concepts toward a culture- and recreation-led economic development strategy for the small foothills community of Sundre, Alberta. </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>place building, quality of place, quality of living, <em>baukultur</em>, QLP, development, economic development, destination development, inward direct investment, creative class</p>

The rise of the local food movement and its impact on rural economies: With examples from the Region of Durham

<p>Rural economies across North America continue to see the positive impacts of the rise of the local food movement and the evolution of the local food system. Local food is a fluid definition impacted by several factors. Government policy, geography and the personal relationships that develop between producer and consumer all play a part in shaping what is local. This has altered how consumers interact with the local food economy and has given rise to direct-farm marketing and agri-tourism as ways to participate in the local food system. Using examples from northern Durham Region, this paper examines how rural economies are impacted by the growing demand for access to local food and how that translates into direct impacts for the local economy. </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>local food, local food movement, rural economies, direct-farm marketing, food economy</p>

Realigning Economic Development to Support Company Startup and Scale Up: A Burlington, Ontario Case Study

<p>In 2015 the City of Burlington developed a new 2015-2040 Strategic Plan: <em>Grow Bold, </em>which tasked Burlington Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) with supporting the start up and scale up of companies and making Burlington a start up destination. This article will outline the process that BEDC went through to better understand the local innovation ecosystem and the role that BEDC could play in supporting it. This process resulted in BEDC going from no role in supporting companies to start and grow to launching, TechPlace, Burlington’s new innovation Centre in 2017, which supported over 4,000 visitors in their entrepreneurial journey in year one of operations. </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Startups, Job Creation, Startup Support, Innovation Centre</p>

The seniors boom and economic repercussions: Waterloo Region economic development opportunities for growth in an aging society

<p>The population in Canada is aging, and even the ‘Silicon Valley of the North’ Waterloo Region is no exception. Aging societies can have a positive impact on the Economy; however, proper policies and programs must be in place in order to thrive through the peak of the Baby Boom retirement wave in 2026. This paper discusses research and recommendations from literature reviews and best practices found among municipalities regarding methods to thrive in an aging society. It is hoped that this paper will aid economic developers and supporting organizations to prepare for the impending age shift through adapting new employment, service, and built environment policies and programs. Adapting economic development now may prevent future economic downturns due to changes in work, lifestyle, and spending habits that are expected throughout the aging and retirement of the baby boom generation. </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Older adults, senior, caregiver, age friendly, anti-aging, adaptive employment</p>

Saving Small Business: The Urgent Need for Improved Business Succession Planning and how Immigrant Entrepreneurs can Help

<p>Small business is the backbone of the Canadian economy, yet fewer than half of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Canada currently have a succession plan in place. As such, many of these businesses could be at risk of closure, potentially reducing the wealth of the business owners in question and depriving communities of needed goods and services. This paper explores the possibility of business succession matching programs, with a focus on immigrants as potential purchasers of businesses. Immigrants are more likely to own a business than their Canadian-born counterparts, and a succession matching program could enable them to access established businesses, mentoring, and even creative financing to enhance their own chances of success as well as preserving desirable firms. The research is based on a review of existing literature, case studies and several interviews which identify an urgent need and potential solutions. </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>succession planning, small enterprise, immigration, immigrant entrepreneurs</p>

Facilitating workforce development: The economic developer’s role in supporting economic stability in medium and small resource-based British Columbian cities

<p>The availability of a talented workforce is increasingly being cited as a barrier to growth by businesses across Canada. This worker shortage is particularly challenging for organizations looking to expand in medium and small resource-based cities. This is due to an increase in outmigration to large cities by people seeking knowledge economy based employment and negative perceptions of resource-based cities. These factors hinder employer’s ability to attract people to their smaller resource-reliant communities from other cities. Economic developers in these smaller cities can adjust to these changing realities by highlighting their community’s strengths in relation to larger cities to attract and retain the skilled talent needed to support the growth of their existing businesses and to attract new business. Economic developers in the Kootenays, Prince George and Quesnel have all recognized this opportunity and the work being done in these communities to increase the population base can be used as a model by other communities grappling with similar workforce attraction and retention issues. </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>economic development, workforce, population, attraction and retention, natural resources, urbanization, outmigration </p>

Small Business and Social Enterprise: To Thrive Not Fail

<p>Small businesses (those with up to 99 employees) are the most common business type in Canada – comprising 97.9 per cent of businesses, and contributing close to one-third of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP). Yet a significant number of these businesses fail, with only about 50 per cent lasting at least five years, according to Industry Canada. Social enterprises – businesses that provide valuable products or services while delivering social and sometime environmental returns – struggle even more than small businesses to attract finance, grow, and sustain. What are the similarities and differences between these two groups’ needs, and how can Canada’s three levels of government and the broader business ecosystem better support small businesses and social enterprises to thrive? This paper takes a comprehensive look at key business needs, barriers to success, enabling factors, and policy incentives, drawing upon academic literature, studies and reports from the government, non-profit, and social enterprise sectors, as well as recommendations from business advocacy groups primarily from Canada and the United States. </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Small business, social enterprise, business financing, business growth, business ecosystem, procurement policy</p>

Alberta’s Digital Oilfield: Technological Opportunities and Benefits for Alberta Companies and Communities

<p>The global oil and gas sector has recently undergone a significant shift in supply economics, which has rippled throughout the supply chain. This has been felt as strongly in Alberta, Canada as it has in any other oil producing region. The intense need for operational changes to production, coupled with the proliferation of digital technologies into industrial processes (Industry 4.0), has led to new opportunities to dramatically reduce costs and inefficiencies through the supply chain. These opportunities can be summarized as Digital Oilfield Technologies, which are a combination of tools and disciplines that are incorporated into advanced software to improve operations efficiencies. This paper explores the different types of Digital Oilfield Technologies, its benefits to industry, and uncovers how communities in oil and gas producing regions can support the growth of this new subsector to improve the health of local industry and economy. </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>oilfield technology, oil and gas, oilfield optimization, digital analytics, digitalization, industry 4.0</p>

Deliverology in Community Economic Development: Enhancing Results Frameworks and Performance Measurement

<p> </p><p><span> </span>This paper will assess the viability of implementing an alternative delivery model and performance measurement framework – commonly known as ‘deliverology’ – at the level of community economic development. First, a review of relevant literature on traditional economic development delivery models and performance metrics is conducted to determine strengths and weaknesses. Next, a deliverology approach is defined and analyzed to determine whether such a model can address the weaknesses of more traditional approaches. The results indicate that a deliverology approach has many potential advantages for economic development service delivery and addresses many of the weaknesses of current models and frameworks. Since deliverology remains rather new compared to more traditional approaches, further research in terms of a case study in a large urban municipality is recommended as a way to test the applicability of deliverology to community economic development. </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>deliverology, performance measurement, results and delivery framework, community economic development, service delivery model</p>

Plan d’améliorations communautaires : Comment assurer la réussite?

Dans cette recherche, il sera expliqué comment le gouvernement municipal peut assurer une implantation réussie de son Plan d’améliorations communautaires (PAC) pour ainsi attirer plus d’entreprises, de résidents et de touristes. Compléter la littérature d’un projet est une étape de franchie, par contre si les mesures d’implantation ne sont pas suivies, il sera impossible d’assurer sa réussite. Depuis janvier 2016, la municipalité de Russell offre le programme, par contre des améliorations doivent être apportées pour assurer une mise en œuvre plus efficace. Les étapes essentielles étant la promotion, l’observation, l’exécution et la révision seront détaillées par l’entremise d’études antérieures et d’études de cas réelles. Selon le Plan stratégique de développement économique 2014-2016 de la municipalité de Russell, l’un des objectifs pour soutenir la croissance de la communauté est de « promouvoir l’attrait de la population par le biais d’un développement urbain bien planifié, en phase avec les stratégies de Prescott-Russell pour fonder un lieu d’une qualité exceptionnelle » (Municipalité de Russell, 2015). Une mise en œuvre du Plan d’améliorations communautaires fondée sur les éléments essentiels à la réussite viendra certainement améliorer une communauté pour le meilleur.Mots-clés : Plan d’améliorations communautaires, programme incitatif, municipalité, développement économique