Olds & District Chamber of Commerce president Stephen Dodwell is cautiously optimistic that the town's economy is destined for a rebound, but he urges people not to expect too much too soon.
Late last year, the price of oil began to rise as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced plans to cut production in order to drive up prices and to punish member states that violate that deal.
Also, US president-elect Donald Trump said he was in favour of approving the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, if the US gets a bigger share of its benefits.
"I don't think that there'll probably be too much difference in day-to-day activity, for you and I walking around, doing our business. It may impact some of the companies that do international business," Dodwell told the Albertan.
He said a higher price for oil could impact the Olds economy, but there are negative factors too, like the carbon tax, which took effect Jan. 1.
"Olds took a lot longer to feel the pressure of the oil (price) drop than some communities, because we're not so reliant directly on the price of oil," Dodwell said.
"I think that's maybe one of the inhibitors of when the oil (price) does come back, is how quickly they can react and produce that wealth again and then that will trickle down to Olds again.
"If it all comes back (this) year, it may take Olds a couple of years to come back to where it used to be," he added.
Painful as the recession in Alberta - and Olds in particular - has been, Dodwell says it's been a learning opportunity for local businesses.
"Sometimes you've got to hit the bottom to understand how to run your business differently," he said.
"I think all of us business people have learned that sometimes these tests are quite good in terms of making you review everything you do - how you sell, how you operate, how you run your costs, how you finance your business; everything. I won't say it's enjoyable.
"We're all guilty of doing something because we do it. Sometimes you just think, why do we do that? Why do we offer that even? Is there a better way of doing this? You know, is the technology available to take over? It's not necessarily what people do, but how people do it, so they can do more.
"When things come back again and everybody's in a much better position, the big test is if they remember that, because usually what happens is that people say, ëhey the money's in. Let's go spend again.'"
"If it all comes back (this) year, it may take Olds a couple of years to come back to where it used to be." STEPHEN DODWELLPRESIDENT OLDS & DISTRICT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
