ISSUE

The City of Medicine Hat has not had a comprehensive and cohesive economic development strategy to guide growth and development activities, resulting in stagnant growth in the community.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

An economic development strategy plays a key role in directing and focusing economic development efforts within a region. Currently, several initiatives and organizations are involved in contributing to economic development within the Southeast Alberta region; however, there is no overarching strategy to provide direction to these organizations or to address their role and guide their activities. In order to create a more collaborative and strategic approach, the Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce recommends that the City of Medicine Hat create and implement an economic development strategy that addresses the major elements and tactics of growth and development, and that it is developed in partnership and consultation with the organizations currently engaged in economic development activities.

BACKGROUND

An economic development strategy should be broad, foundational, and cohesive in order to influence growth through action and investments. When developing an economic development strategy there is an opportunity to design a framework for continuous growth, prosperity and inclusion that influences progress and development beyond what markets alone would do.

In a report from the Brookings Institution entitled Remaking Economic Development – The Market and Civics of Continuous Growth and Prosperity, five action principles are included in a broader vision of economic development that can deliver on the vision of continuous growth, prosperity, and inclusion:

1. Set the right goals: expand the scope and metrics of economic development to reflect a more foundational and holistic understanding of how to expand the economy and opportunity.

2. Grow from within: prioritize established and emerging firms and industries, invest in the ecosystems of innovation, trade, talent infrastructure, and governance to support globally competitive firms and enable small business to grow in the market.

3. Boost trade: facilitate export growth and trade with other markets in ways that deepen regional industry specializations and bring in new income and investment.

4. Invest in people and skills: incorporate skills development of workers as priority for economic development and employers so that improving human capacities results in meaningful work and income gains.

5. Connect place: catalyze economic place making and work at multiple geographic levels to connect local communities to regional jobs, housing and opportunity.1  

These action principles represent a broader approach to traditional economic development and requires a delivery system that involves an integrated team of economic development professionals, elected officials, employers, workforce and education leaders, and other civic and nonprofit executives.

Several organizations currently exist within our region to carry out various economic development activities including Verge Economic Development, Community Futures-Entre Corp, Palliser Economic Partnership, the City of Medicine Hat’s Economic Development Department, The Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce, Medicine Hat College, Apex Regional Innovation Network, and Tourism Medicine Hat.

In order to harness and coordinate the actions and expertise of the organizations that participate in economic development efforts in our region and municipality, a strategy needs to be developed that encompasses a comprehensive and cohesive plan that provides a vision and direction going forward for growth and development. Such a plan would ensure that strategic plans, municipal development plans, inter-municipal plans and growth plans are working together to achieve a unified purpose.

In the 2023-2026 City of Medicine Hat Strategic Plan2 identified the second priority as ‘Economic Evolution’. The plan identified a desire to have a “strong, diversified regional economy and an economic ecosystem that encourages entrepreneurship”. There were also four key actions identified including:

1. Identify and understand our comparative advantages as a City, community and region and rapidly capitalize on those advantages.

2. Work with our regional partners to develop a regional economic development strategy, that addresses business retention, expansion, and attraction (including carbon capture, utilization, and storage [CCUS]), tourism, workforce development, infrastructure, policy/process reform and developing an economic ecosystem that encourages entrepreneurship.

3. Mitigate our region’s carbon risk for municipalities, business, and industry, including by continuing to pursue a CCUS hub and hydrogen hub.

4. Ensure that our policies, procedures and bylaws are transparent, clear, purposeful, and necessary, and where applicable aligned with those of the Province of Alberta to facilitate efficient and cost-effective development.

Along with economic evolution, the City also identified innovation, service orientation, partnerships & governance, community wellness, and resilience & sustainability as strategic priorities.

What has been lost from previous strategic plans and priorities is the need for an overarching strategy, beyond just a coordinated framework. It is appreciated and acknowledged that the City has started on developing a direction for the growth and economic development of Medicine Hat through the City’s current strategic priorities, the work completed through the Municipal Development Plan, and the path forward outlined by the new Economic Development Department. In order for our municipality to capitalize on the opportunities and face the challenges ahead, a robust and detailed plan is necessary.

We have faced significant challenges with the economic downturn, compounded by the pandemic, which is why now is the right time to focus on a strategy that could encompass a vision for growth, as detailed in the Municipal Development Plan, in conjunction with a detailed economic development strategy and plan, that includes an overarching direction and detailed framework to ensure that actions and a plan, including timelines for implementation, would be addressed including strategies for:

• Downtown Revitalization
• Business Retention and Expansion
• Workforce Development
• Tourism
• Investment Attraction
• Entrepreneurship and Small Business Incubation

ANALYSIS

By developing a concerted strategy for coordinating growth and economic development activities within the municipality, the city provides a structural blueprint for decision making. Because Medicine Hat has several organizations that are all engaged in varying aspects and types of economic development activity, a central reference such as an economic development strategy would ensure that efforts are harmonized and focused on achieving goals that will, ultimately, lead to a single vision and coordinated approach for the City.

It is essential that the development of a strategy include mention and direction for each of the major elements of growth and economic development. The development of a strategy should incorporate the experience and expertise of existing economic development organizations and operatives to capitalize on the expertise and knowledge of these players in the Medicine Hat landscape in order to maintain that any strategy developed is holistic, inclusive, and well-rounded.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce supports the development of a comprehensive economic development strategy. Therefore, it recommends that the City of Medicine Hat:

1. Continue ongoing collaboration with the Village of Foremost, Town of Bow Island, Town of Redcliff, County of Forty Mile and Cypress County in the development and implementation of the Southeast Alberta Regional Economic Development Strategy.

2. Following the establishment of a Southeast Alberta Regional Economic Development Strategy, develop a municipal economic development strategy through the Medicine Hat Economic Development Department defining a vision, guiding principles, goals, and implementation framework.

3. Ensure all economic development strategies provide vision and direction over the medium to long term (i.e. 5 to 10 years).

4. Ensure that all economic development strategies leverage resources for collaboration, consultation, marketing and progress tracking, as well as communication of progress and updates.

5. Collaborate with economic development organizations, including but not limited to Community Futures-Entre Corp, Palliser Economic Partnership, the Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce, Verge Economic Development, Medicine Hat College, Apex Regional Innovation Network, and Tourism Medicine Hat in the development and implementation of a municipal economic development strategy and in the development of a systems mapping tool that will better identify and simplify the business supports and assist in the strategic approach to implementation of the strategy.

6. Incorporate key considerations into the municipal economic development strategy that would include, but are not limited to:

a. Downtown revitalization, business retention and expansion, workforce development, tourism, investment attraction, and entrepreneurship and small business incubation;

b. Regional assets and growth capacity for water, power, land and airshed in the municipal strategy;

c. Community readiness strategies for elements such as housing, childcare, health care and social supports that will support investment and workforce attraction efforts;

d. Key sector identification for investment attraction, business retention, and expansion opportunities, such as aerospace, defence, agriculture, and industrial/manufacturing opportunities;

e. Strategies for creating a business-friendly regulatory environment and creating a strong and diverse local economy through streamlining regulatory processes, creating business supports and investment readiness tools, incentives, and action plans.

RESOURCES

•https://www.countygp.ab.ca/assets/Departments/Economic~Development/Strategy/Growth%20and%20Economic%20Development%20Strategy%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf
•https://www.newmarket.ca/TownGovernment/Documents/2016%20to%202020%20Economic%20Development%20Strategy%20%28Web_Accessible%29.pdf
•https://www.sfu.ca/ced/news_events/5_principlesofCED.html
•https://www.lgc.org/wordpress/docs/ahwahnee/economic_principles.pdf
•https://www.brookings.edu/research/remaking-economic-development-the-markets-and-civics-of-continuous-growth-and-prosperity/
•https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/BMPP_RemakingEconomicDevelopment_Feb25LoRes-1.pdf

Date Approved: April 18, 2012
Date Updated: July 24, 2019; September 8, 2020, January 8, 2023
Date Approved: January 17, 2024