OLDS — If you want to help spur the economy in Olds and area, Sandra Blyth, the Town of Olds' economic development officer, wants to hear from you.
During a recent address to the Olds & District Chamber of Commerce, Blyth outlined the municipality's three-year Next Generation Economy Initiative (NGEI).
The town is working in partnership with Mountain View County, Olds College, as well as federal and provincial government representatives and others to implement the initiative.
The goal is to develop a strategy within two years to create the conditions for businesses in the area to expand.
The Economic Development Action Committee is overseeing the Next Generation Economy Initiative and the Business Retention, Expansion and Workforce Development program, a grassroots program designed to determine what obstacles stand in the way of the town and region’s growth.
Under the Economic Development Action Committee, four committees are being set up to make all this happen: workforce, agriculture, construction and access to capital.
Blyth urged business representatives attending the chamber of commerce's annual general meeting March 13 to volunteer to sit on the committees.
At the very least, she urged them to fill out an online survey on the matter expected to be rolled out by July 1.
Blyth anticipates a strategy should be in place by the end of December.
One part of that two-pronged strategy will focus on the retention and expansion of the local business community. The other will focus on developing the workforce necessary to enable businesses to grow and expand.
“Workforce development right now is a huge problem. We have invested in the last year in two immigration programs.
A lot of the people who come in are for lower-level-paying jobs,” Blyth said.
“We want to find out what industry truly needs for jobs and what are the skill sets that you need and then we will go after that.”
“This plan is bottom-up. It is completely driven by business,” Blyth said. “We’re looking to you to tell us what’s working and what’s not working.
“At the end of this three years what do you get for this? You get to determine what my office does and where government spends our budget. If you don’t get involved, you don’t get a say.”
