EATC Chair's Update

Many of you are aware that in June of 2014, three Regional Economic Development Alliances came together to create the Eastern Alberta Trade Corridor project (EATC).  This partnership had been on an informal, handshake basis for the past few years, but the time had come for a formal agreement.

The Executive of these three REDA partners (North East Alberta Information HUB Ltd. (HUB), Battle River Alliance for Economic Development (BRAED), and Palliser Economic Partnership (PEP)) recognized the many advantages of 80+ municipal partners collaborating to promote eastern Alberta to national and international markets.

From the individual community's perspective, however, the benefits may not be as clear.  So why should your municipality be excited about EATC?

Consider the following:

Today's economy is global -

• Never before in history has there been such global exchange of goods & services. 
• The Government of Canada has actively negotiated free trade agreements in the past, and continues to look for further opportunity. 
• Our relationship with the Ports to Plains Trade Corridor Alliance connects us with like-minded people in several US states and in Mexico.  Business in eastern Alberta has the opportunity to capitalize on this. 
• Our vision is "The Eastern Alberta Trade Corridor is a Significant participant in the Global Economy".

Our Core Strategies  -  Designed to benefit our membership -

• Economic Development Advocate for Eastern Alberta - we are many voices that together can advocate for economic development issues in eastern Alberta that affect us all.  The Wild Horse Border Crossing is a perfect example.
• Business & Investment Attraction - In concert with other levels of government and other stakeholders, we are willing to take the lead in Business Investment & Attraction.
• Major Project Business Opportunities - There are almost $120 Billion in major projects announced or underway in Eastern Alberta, and we can help our business community take advantage of procurement opportunities related to these projects.  

The Ports to Plains Organization (PTP) -

• The Province of Alberta became a member in 2009 and the three REDAs have been cultivating a good working relationship with PTP since that time.  EATC has, this spring, entered into a membership agreement with PTP that has two positive results -
  • o   EATC is a voting member of PTP.
  • o   Each municipal member of the three REDAs is now automatically a member of PTP.

We have been noticed -

• We have been formally recognized with two awards (Municipal Affairs Minister's Award of Excellence for Partnerships, Economic Developers of Alberta Marketing Award for large communities).
• The EATC project has been mentioned several times by presenters at the Rural Economic Development Action Plan consultations. 
• EATC Executive Director Elvira Smid has recently come to our organization on a secondment from Alberta Innovation & Advanced Education - this is a significant investment in the EATC project by the Government of Alberta.

 Our Marketing Strategy & Web Presence -

• We are working on member-specific promotional pieces, plus developing an on-line investment readiness profile for each member community.  

On the financial side, each REDA member's contribution allows us to leverage significant funds to create a total budget for 2014/15 of over $300,000.  Add to this the value of our secondment arrangement plus ongoing projects where funds are held separately, and you can see the benefit of working together on this.

To summarize, the Eastern Alberta Trade Corridor project has allowed us, collectively, to be part of the economic development conversation on the Provincial, National, and International stage. 

Eastern Alberta has a lot to offer in terms of services, land prices, great communities & quality of life.  The EATC project allows us to tell our story to a broad audience, and gives our members and their respective business communities some additional tools to grow.

We will be sharing updates with you as we move forward, but I am pleased to connect with any of our membership on questions specific to EATC and its activities.

Sincerely,

Bud James 

Chair, EATC Steering Committee 

We are very excited to announce the recipients of our first ever "BRAED Outstanding Summer Economic Development Intern Scholarship Grant." 

The Youth Engagement & Entrepreneurship Task Team worked together throughout the past year to develop the parameters surrounding the internship scholarship.  Originally, BRAED members agreed to offer up to a $1000.00 scholarship to one intern that showed exemplary potential, and exceeded the expectations of their community and of our organization.  All past and present interns that are either currently students, are entering a post-secondary institution, or are opening up a business in the Region were eligible, provided they completed the scholarship requirements including a short paper that addressed the following:

-        Briefly explain your understanding of BRAED

-        If you received this grant, how would these funds assist you in successfully executing your future goals? and,

-        Where do you see yourself in five years?

In addition, we required that their internship supervisor provide them with a referral letter.

Meghan was a BRAED intern for Special Areas in both 2012 and 2013, providing services in economic development that otherwise Special Areas would

 not have had the human resources to complete.  Meghan exceeded all expectations, participating in numerous BRAED meetings and events, in additional to fulfilling her role as an intern in Special Areas.  Meghan is in her final year at the University of Lethbridge completing a degree in Archival Studies and intends to pursue a Master's, travel to Europe to gain experience, and then eventually focus her Archival Studies in the Battle River Region.  

 

Wesley was an intern in Edgerton this past summer, working closely with the business community, executing business visitations, and building a business case surrounding the potential to develop a join Chauvin-Edgerton Chamber of Commerce.  The professionalism that Wesley showed, and his ability to excel at his job in a very short period of time stood out to us.  Like Meghan, Wesley provided Edgerton with a much-needed additional human resource.  Wesley is in his final year of a Bachelor of Arts - History Degree at MacEwan University and hopes to pursue a career in municipal government, and would ideally like to be situated in the Battle River Region as he has close family ties to the area.

 Congratulations to our recipients!

The proposed project would comprise of three major in

itiatives designed to enhance and elevate the investment attraction capacity of 29 municipalities in East Central Alberta through the di

ligent research and development of various electronic and printed materials aimed at marketing the region.  The thre

The purpose of undertaking a broad-scale investment attraction effort is to ensure that East Central Alberta has a strong foundation from which to increase its investment potential, by providing each municipality with tools to market their community to potential investors -i.e. businesses, labour force, residents. e major initiatives will comprise of a labour attraction focus, a regional transportation analysis, and regional marketing plan and action strategy. 

Project would include:

-       Labour Capacity Study

-       Labour Attraction Strategy

-       Labour Attraction Content Development

Transportation has been identified as a challenge and opportunity for the BRAED region. There is a lack of understating in the municipalities of how much traffic they are receiving and in what form, of what impediments and opportunities there are for regional businesses due to the transportation system, and how population growth and businesses development will determine how infrastructure development will need to progress. In short, marketing the region to new or expanding businesses requires a full understanding of how transportation system is functioning in an economic development context, and how it can be improved.

Project would include:

-       Regional Transportation System Research

-       Industry Stakeholder Research

-       Transportation Needs Assessment

3)   Regional Marketing Plan

A new marketing effort can take advantage of economies of scale involving ongoing website and marketing work for the EATC. This Market Plan builds on previous economic development work, and leverages partnerships with municipalities to our north and south that have recently undergone a similar RCP-funded initiative

Project would include:

-       Regional Marketing Plan: Environmental Scan, Marketing Strategy, Action Plans

-       Marketing Collateral

-       New Website

-       Communications Roll-Out

-       Municipal Marketing Events

Recognizing Our Industry 5th Edition

 

Tankstore Ltd. specializes in the manufacture of oilfield storage tanks,  both single and double-walled. The size of these tanks range from small methanol tanks to 750 bbl production tanks.

Tankstore Ltd. is a privately owned company established in 2001. All the partners have many years of background experience in the oil and gas industry. This knowledge has been incorporated into the design of their products, making them very functional and operator-friendly.

Other Tankstore products include tank/separator packages, oil separators, testing unites, treaters, our G-55 Shallow Gas Production units, emission stabilizers, and our patented heating system.  Tankstore is also an ABSA Code Shop manufacturing a variety of pressure vessels.

Employees play a very important role in any company. All of their employees are local, living within 20 miles of the plant. Tankstore has a very low staff turnover rate and many of their employees have been with them since the beginning.

To learn more about TankStore Ltd:

http://www.tankstoreltd.com

Box 100  Halkirk, AB T0C 1M0

Phone: 403-884-2001  

danf@tankstore.ca or colint@tankstore.ca 

In 1958, Alfred G. Beck invented the "Closed-Loop S.A.W. flux-slag crushing process" that crushes Submerged Arc Welding (S.A.W.) flux-slag, allowing sub-arc welders to reuse the product. His revolutionary method proved to be money saving, environmentally friendly and less dust producing. By 1963, Alfred was Crushing S.A.W. Flux-Slag fulltime. A native of Canada, Alfred opened Allied Flux Reclaiming Ltd. in Edmonton.

Eventually, his son Albert took over the S.A.W. flux-slag crushing business in Edmonton Alberta. In 1991 Albert, along with Brother Harvey opened up a sister plant in Greencastle PA (Harbert's Products) where it is still in operation today. Albert's daughter, Sherry Waldroff (Beck) joined the family business in her early 20s and took over control of the company with her husband Cody, after Albert's passing in 2009. Allied is growing and changing with the times and strives to provide the best service and product to preserve both Alfred and Albert's legacy.

As the originator of S.A.W. Flux-Slag Crushing technology, Allied has enjoyed tremendous success, due largely to the fact that their service has many positives and no drawbacks. The vision and wisdom of Alfred Beck 50 years ago undeniably changed the S.A.W. industry forever. Today, Allied is committed to keeping up with new technologies and advancements, resulting in the highest quality product available.

To learn more about Allied Flux Reclaiming Ltd.:

www.allied-flux.com

51001 RR 192  Tofield, AB T0B 4J0

Phone: 780-662-4001    Toll Free: 1-800-937-3589

info@allied-flux.com