EDA News Centre

In April, a new Board Directors will be elected to the Economic Developers of Alberta (EDA).

If you are coming to the EDA Annual Conference, think about registering for one of our Pre-Conference sessions. This year we have three to choose from! click here to register

PRE-CONFERENCE SEMINAR #1: Prairie Canada Future Game

Do you want to:
•· Engage your fellow leaders and stimulate debate and discussion about the future of your community?
•· Add extra depth and strength to your regional planning efforts?
•· Hone leadership and decision making skills?

The Prairie Canada Future Game is a highly interactive facilitation tool that allows participants to tackle the challenges of economic and community development in a fun and engaging manner. It is played in a small team format with teams making a series of critical decisions that shape the future of a typical prairie region over a 25 year period.

The tool allows leaders to work with their groups in a dynamic way. By observing how today’s decisions can impact tomorrow’s future, key leaders and groups can focus on the importance of a long term vision and what it takes to get there.

Moderator: Selena McLean-Moore, Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education
Presented by: Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education

PRE-CONFERENCE SEMINAR #2: ICCI Contribution Writing Workshop & Investment 101 Session

Invest Canada- Community Initiatives (ICCI) is a contribution program designed to help Canadian communities attract, retain and expand foreign direct investment. ICCI supports non-profit and public-private partnerships at the local community level, and follows three basic principles:
•· Focusing on supporting the attraction, retention, and expansion of foreign direct investment;
•· Work through partnerships;
•· Sharing costs.

Are you interested in learning more about the FDI attraction and Invest Canada- Community Initiatives (ICCI) contribution program? Is foreign direct investment a part of your economic development strategy? Then sign up for this pre-conference session to learn more about FDI attraction and the ICCI program for communities.

Speakers: Pierre Desmarais, Deputy Director, Investor Services Division
Bernard Lemay PhD, Special Advisor, Investor Services Division

Presented by: Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
PRE-CONFERENCE SEMINAR #3: Productivity 101 Session

The Productivity 101 Workshop is intended to help you work with your clients to inspire them to take a more strategic approach to their organizations in order to achieve their personal and business goals. Key concepts discussed will include Innovation, Operations, Leadership and Management, as well as best practices for productivity improvement in SMEs.
About the Workshop: Productivity 101 is the first step in the productivity journey. It is the starting point for a more productive and more importantly, a more profitable business. Participants will learn about the Productivity Assessment Tool, how to use the Tool with clients, and how to guide clients in developing their own custom 120-Day Productivity Action Plan.

What You Will Learn: Productivity basics including:
•· The value of productivity improvement to your own organization
•· What tools, programs, and services are available to businesses
•· How to start your journey of productivity improvement
•· The three pillars of productivity

Presented by: Productivity Alberta

Are you planning to come to EDA's Annual Conference scheduled to take place from April 10-12, 2013 in Kananaskis? Then don't miss your chance to take advantage of pre-conference early bird pricing. Prices go up January 19 so register now by clicking here.

If you have already registered, we hope you are collecting items to bring to our Silent Auction! All funds raised during the Silent Auction are placed directly into a scholarship account for disbursement. More details to come in the future.

EDA is proud to present a number of awards that recognize excellence in economic development in Alberta. The following awards are presented at the Annual General Meeting and Professional Conference.
To download the 2013 EDA Awards of Excellence Nomination Package click here.

Economic Developers Alberta now has a Facebook page! Visit often for the latest news.  We also want to hear from you! 

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced the Government's Venture Capital Action Plan to improve access to venture capital financing by high-growth companies so that they have the capital they need to create jobs and growth.

"Our Government understands that Canada's long-term economic competitiveness in the emerging knowledge economy needs to be driven by globally competitive, high-growth businesses that innovate and create high-quality jobs," said Prime Minister Harper. "We will provide the resources needed to put Canada's venture capital industry on the path to sustainability and ensure Canada's high-potential firms have the resources they need to succeed."

Recognizing the importance of the venture capital industry to Canada's future productivity growth, Economic Action Plan 2012 announced resources to support Canada's venture capital industry, including $400 million to help increase private sector investments in early-stage risk capital, and to support the creation of large-scale venture capital funds led by the private sector.

Over the summer, the Government conducted extensive consultations with key stakeholders on how to structure this support and on how to ensure that the support contributes to the creation of a sustainable, private sector-led venture capital sector in Canada.

Based on the results of the consultations, the Government will pursue a comprehensive action plan for deploying the $400 million in new capital over the next seven to ten years. The Government's approach recognizes the need to demonstrate that Canada's innovative firms represent superior return opportunities, and that private sector investment and decision-making is central to long-term success. With this in mind, the Venture Capital Action Plan will make available:

• $250 million to establish new, large private sector-led national funds of funds (a funds of funds portfolio consists of investments in several venture capital funds) in partnership with institutional and corporate strategic investors, as well as interested provinces;
• Up to $100 million to recapitalize existing large private sector-led funds of funds, in partnership with willing provinces; and,
• An aggregate investment of up to $50 million in three to five existing high-performing venture capital funds in Canada.

In addition, the Venture Capital Action Plan will promote a vibrant venture capital environment in Canada rooted in a strong entrepreneurial culture and well-established networks that link investors to innovative companies.

Private sector expertise will be sought in the coming weeks to advise the Government on the selection of the private sector management of the large-scale, national funds of funds, and on the selection of the high-performing venture capital funds to receive capital from the Government.

The Government is currently asking potential investors to signal their interest in co-investing in new or existing funds of funds. Please indicate your interest by February 8, 2013, at VentureCapital-CapitaldeRisque@fin.gc.ca. The Government is not accepting proposals for investment in individual firms.

Source: The Prime Minister's Office - Communications

January 12, 2013
Toronto Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced that he will meet with some of Canada's leading business women today in a roundtable discussion about economic objectives in the year to come. The Prime Minister will be joined by Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance.
"I look forward to hearing from our top business leaders on how our Government can continue to maintain and improve our economic performance in the year ahead," said the Prime Minister. "Our priorities continue to be creating jobs, growth and long-term prosperity for all Canadians and their families while keeping taxes low. The suggestions from today's roundtable will contribute to our overall plan to maintain our economic stability while the global economy remains fragile."

The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss economic priorities and to propose suggestions to ensure Canadian taxpayers' dollars are put to their best use in 2013. This will be the first of several economic consultations the Prime Minister will participate in around the country, focussing on engaging Canadians in discussions about the economy.

"By receiving ideas from Canadians across the country both through online consultations and business roundtables, our Government will be better able to address their needs in the coming year. Their suggestions will also inform how we build on pro-growth initiatives, to create jobs and long-term prosperity for Canadians, while keeping taxes low and achieving our objective to balance the budget before the end of this Parliament."

The Prime Minister's Office - Communications

EDA’s New "Marketing and Branding Your Community" course was held December 2,  2012 at the Two-Hills municipal office.  And participants gave it an enthusiastic thumbs-up! This is what they had to say:

"This course was very timely and long overdue for our community. A great tool for building on."

"The instructor, Natalie Gibson was excellent! There are some unique differences between each of our municipalities, but a lot is also the same. Working together, regionalization, and collaboration across the country is the answer."

Among the 18 participating were elected officials, economic development practitioners, and Community Futures representatives. They came from places like:  Vegreville, County of Two-Hills, County of St. Paul, Willingdon, Myram, County of Vermillion.

Thank you members for taking the time to complete our annual member survey.

We want to know what we are doing right, and what areas you think we need to improve upon to best serve your needs.

We are still analyzing the results, so far we are thrilled to tell you that nearly every EDA member said "yes" to recommending EDA to a friend or colleague!  

Today EDAC’s Board of Directors announced that they, in conjunction with Deloitte, RBC Financial Group and National Post have once again joined forces to offer Scholarships to their members.

In 2012, they provided up to 12 $500 Scholarships (to be used in 2013) to EDAC members for their accredited courses/seminars.

Online applications can be found here. Deadline to apply is December 31, 2012 so apply today. Applications will be reviewed in January and awarded by mid-February 2013.