Summer in St. Albert - June 2017 News from St. Albert Economic Development

June 2017

This Month's Issue:
Summer in St. Albert

Business Incubation in St. Albert

Going from an idea to a functioning business is one of the most difficult, expensive, and time-consuming periods of starting a new business. Consequently, to help foster economic development and vibrant business communities, governments and other organizations work to provide new entrepreneurs with resources they need to increase their chances of success: business incubation.

The City of St. Albert recently approved a new incubation strategy called "Entrepreneurial Ecosystem," which was developed in conjunction with the Northern Alberta Business Incubator (NABI) and the St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce. The framework identifies four key phases to early stage business formation, and proposes strategies to support entrepreneurs at each phase:

Stage One: Idea Generation

Entrepreneurs conceive of new products or services in response to problems, and perform market assessments for the idea's viability. Strategies include:

Provide list of "idea generation" resources
Cultivate "clusters"
Hold creativity events
Host a virtual community for idea sharing

Stage Two: Incubation

Viable ideas are turned into new products or services, and are developed alongside business models. Strategies include:

Provide list of incubation resources
Assist in locating working space
Assist with "living lab" opportunities
Encourage home-based businesses with ability to scale to join the ecosystem

Stage Three: Accelerated Growth

Business models are proven successful, and growth towards reaching new and larger markets - and larger business infrastructure - takes place. Strategies include:

Provide list of growth resources
Assist locating larger working spaces
Inform of marketing opportunities
Assist in finding funding options (if there is a lack)

Stage Four: Retention

A growing business is ready to graduate from incubation and find a new permanent space to relocate. Potential strategies include:

Assist "graduates" to locate permanently in St. Albert
Advocate for an increased supply of commercial properties (if there is a lack)
Identify ways to diversify or improve access to talent pools as new clusters form
Advocate for new policies that are able to accommodate new industries

In This Issue

Business Incubation in St. Albert

Jensen Lakes Crossing

London Drugs Opening

Alberta Innovates Voucher Program for New Businesses

NABI Commons - An Exciting Entrepreneurial Space

Business Spotlight On... Splash Juicery

New Businesses in St. Albert

Monthly Growth Stats

Join the Conversation!

Upcoming Events

Canada Day 150 Presented by Reliance the Furnace Company

July 1

Seven Music Fest

July 8

St. Albert's North Retail Hub Continues to Grow - Jensen Lakes Crossing

by David Howe ( [email protected] )

St. Albert's very own artificial lake development is about to get even more exciting. Long anticipated, the Landmark Cinemas VIP Cinema experience is beginning to take form, and more details are emerging about how the shopping centre will develop around it.

Located on St. Albert's fast growing north-end, across from Costco and north of Walmart, Jensen Lakes Crossing is poised to become a prime retail location in our City and from visitors entering St. Albert from Alberta's north. Melcor, an Edmonton based developer, is leading both the development of the retail centre and the upscale community located adjacent to it. The retail site is directly accessible from St. Albert Trail and will offer enormous visibility and exposure for its tenants. The total leaseable area will include 105,000 sq. ft. of retail space in addition to the aforementioned 8 screen VIP cinema. Current designs call for two new restaurant opportunities, small to medium CRUs for retail stores, and two medium-to-large anchor spots for larger retailers. Coupled with the developing Erin Ridge North Power Centre, the area is quickly becoming a commercial hot spot in the City.

Since 2013, the area has hauled in retail options high on the "wish list" of St. Albert residents, including the Theater, Costco, Marshalls, Michaels, Homesense, and a Lowe's slated to open later this year. As Economic Development staff continue to liaise with the developers in the area, we are sure to see more of these "wish list" retail opportunities come to fruition in the near term. Development of Jensen Lakes Crossing is expected to continue through this year, with the first businesses opening their doors in Summer 2018.

London Drugs Opening - New Store, New Strategy

by David Howe ( [email protected] )

London Drugs has settled in to it's new location in the upgraded St. Albert Centre, and they have a few new attractions to help drive traffic in a world struggling to balance brick and mortar stores with the juggernaut of online sales. This new and improved London Drugs will occupy 38,000 sq. ft. of prime retail space on the north side of the mall, complete with its own external entrance, an in house medical office, a large tech centre, a cosmetic centre, a recycling centre, and a dedicated "learning lab". It is hoped that these extra amenities will help to convince customers to visit the store, and compete with the growing threat of Amazon or other internet exclusive retailers.

The learning lab is the most innovative of these initiatives, as customers often have questions about products and are sometimes not getting the full potential out of their devices. London Drugs Experts will teach topics on products from each department in the store, from cosmetics to smart phones, and product specialists will be on hand to answer other questions that arise. London Drugs will be posting dates for learning lab events on it's website, and anticipates the first topic will be posted soon.

London Drugs is doubling down by also adding an in-house medical centre. The centre will host one resident physician and will be expandable should demand suffice. This will allow London Drugs to serve as a hub for residents' medical needs, and should expedite the pharmaceutical process for customers. This allows London drugs to add a new revenue stream while supplying more diverse services to incoming customers, increasing their stability in an ever-changing market.

Though St. Albert Centre is preforming well in all measurable categories, malls and brick and mortar stores across North America are feeling the pinch of consumers shifting their focus to e-commerce. The strategies applied by the new St. Albert London Drugs are noteworthy, and they should be watched carefully by business owners concerned about losing some of their market share to e-commerce. Diversifying the services offered at your location, and including "experiences" that highlight the strengths of traditional store locations over web retail will help any business owner drive traffic back into the store and keep customers engaged with your location.

Alberta Innovates Voucher Program - Boosting Support to New Businesses

by Rhys Chouinard ( [email protected] )

Starting a new business is a challenging and daunting task, but in Alberta there are grants available to assist in the process. Alberta Innovates is an organization funded by the provincial government that is responsible for developing research and innovation companies within Alberta. Part of this development action plan includes vouchers to assist new companies and technologies in gaining traction in the market. The Micro-Voucher Program is meant to support new technologies that are in the earliest stage of development. Micro-Vouchers can be worth up to $10,000, and provide services from a local organization such as Alberta Innovates or TEC Edmonton to assist the applicant with market assessments, industry development, corporate training, intellectual property assessment, or acquiring materials that are critical to the technology's market success. The Micro-Voucher program can be extremely useful for getting assistance with a business plan, or determining which markets to target for a new product or service.

Moving up in size, the Voucher Program has a range of $10,001 to $100,000, and is designed to support new technologies that are later in development. This voucher allows a small or medium-sized company to work in collaboration with up to three service/product providers to advance their idea closer to the commercialization stage. The voucher funds are meant to cover expenses related to new product research and development, prototyping, product testing, patents, or advanced market assessments. This can be a huge boost if a company has an idea worked through thoroughly but is having troubles funding the next stage of development.

Finally, the Product Demonstration Program is meant for companies and technologies that are ready to go big. This fund is worth between $100,001 and $300,000. For successful applicants, it can be used for technology optimization that's required to get it to market, manufacturing of a prototype product, applications for regulatory approval, prototype field testing, or results assessment and verification of product performance.

NABI Commons - An Exciting New Entrepreneurial Space

by Monty Killoh ( [email protected] )

On June 16th 2017, the Northern Alberta Business Incubator (NABI) officially opened its third and newest space dedicated to business incubation in St. Albert: NABI Commons.

Located across the street from the existing NABI complex in Campbell Business Park, NABI Commons offers a unique environment for entrepreneurs looking to transform their ideas for products and services into the next big thing. Whereas NABI's other buildings offer individual offices and boardrooms for rent, NABI Commons provides entrepreneurs with a large open space that promotes collaboration, networking and teamwork.

From small tables for one-on-one style engagements, to a boardroom with whiteboards and television screens, to a private telephone room, NABI Commons is an environment where entrepreneurs can engage with clients and other entrepreneurs in the most open of settings to the most discrete.

The flexibility of the new space also gives NABI the ability to provide specialized business training and coaching seminars; these can range from one-on-one sessions to larger group seminars. More information about coaching sessions and an up-to-date schedule can be found here: http://www.nabi.ca/Services/NABICommons.aspx

If you're an entrepreneur looking to jump-start an idea or re-brand your existing business in a place that was built with collaboration and creativity as the guiding principal, NABI Commons is certainly one of the best spots in the Capital Region.

NABI Commons

118-205 Carnegie Dr

780-460-1000