MONDAY JUNE 19, 2017
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Fundamentals Course, part 1
Dr. Alan Barefield and Kathleen Tweeten
Room: Athabasca
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Building Enterprising and Vibrant Communities and Local Economies Through the Lens of Asset Based Community Driven Efforts (ABCDE)
Peter Kenyon
Room: Leduc
TUESDAY JUNE 20, 2017
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Fundamentals Course, part 2
Dr. Alan Barefield and Kathleen Tweeten
Room: Athabasca
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Upgrading and Re-Tooling Your Business Retention and Expansion
Eric Canada
Room: Leduc
–Main Conference Begins–
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2017
7:30 a.m.
Networking Breakfast
Sponsored by City of St. Albert
8:00 a.m.
Opening Remarks
Barbara Engelbart McKenzie, BREI Conference Chair
Schaun Goodeve, Greater Edmonton EDT Chair
Mayor Nolan Crouse, Capitol Region Board
Room: Devonian
8:30 a.m.
Keynote Address – Finding Your Unique Selling Proposition
Sponsored by LocalIntel
Roger Brooks, Roger Brooks International
Room: Devonian
There are nearly 5,000 cities and towns across Canada that we can access via the web. But when we use the Internet, we are looking for experiences, not cities, towns, regions or even businesses. So what sets your experiences apart from the rest? To win, you must find your unique selling proposition. In this fast-paced, fun, presentation, you’ll learn the ten things you need to know to become THE destination of choice. You’ll see real-life case histories and before and after marketing examples that will help you narrow your focus in this wild frontier of instant communication and rapid decision-making.
9:30 a.m.
Break
9:35 a.m.
Morning Breakout Sessions
1A: BRE Essentials Stream
BRE – Informing Policy, Programs and Progress
Nolan Crouse, Mayor, St. Albert
Victoria Brooks, BusinessNow
Room: Centennial
Elected officials consistently seek data – good data; qualitative data; quantitative data; people data and success stories. A professional Business Retention & Expansion program can provide information, both qualitative and empirical, to understand the economic landscape, inform strategy, support policies and develop programs. This session will increase your understanding of BR&E, how it relates to municipal government, how it benefits individual private sector and advances regional economies. It will discuss how a unified approach to BR&E can leverage broad initiatives for communities who work in partnership.
2A: Community Building Stream
Building Strategic Alliance to Promote Your Brand and Grow Your Market Share
Diane Kereluk, Exec. Director Stony Plain Road Business Association
Joachim Holtz, P.Mgr, Exec. Director Alberta Avenue Business Association
Ellie Sasseville, Exec. Director Kingsway Business Association
Room: Strathcona
Alliances are the key to success in most organizations and especially Business Improvement Areas (BIA’s). It is critical to engage all your members and understand the needs of each member so that you may begin to set direction that reflects the desire of the majority in the area. In this session we will discuss how you engage businesses in your area, how to create that sense of community and belonging and how to break down barriers of business competitiveness to work together.
10:35 a.m.
Break
10:50 a.m.
Morning Breakout Sessions
1B: BRE Essentials Stream
Strategic Planning for Today’s BRE
Paul Blais, MDB Insight
Kimberley Worthington, Central Alberta Economic Partnership
Room: Centennial
The objective of Triage BR+E is to prioritize the time of local BR+E project administrators and managers. Time is an organization’s most valuable resource regardless of the organization’s size or the number of people and dollar resources that are dedicated to the BR+E initiative. There is always a desire (and/or push) to do more. A well-thought through triage approach will ensure those working on BR+E projects are spending their time on the cases that matter the most. Triage BR+E has been created by MDB Insight and is now being piloted in two communities. Attend this session to learn more about this innovative approach from both a consultant and community point-of-view.
2B: Community Building Stream
How to Build A Place That Actually Works…and is Actually Working.
Sponsored by Edmonton Economic Development
Brad Ferguson, Edmonton Economic Development Corporation
Todd Babiak, Story Engine
Room: Strathcona
Traditional place-branding is light on research and differentiation and heavy on logos and cute taglines. It rarely works as marketing and it almost never works as strategy. Brad and Todd will present an unconventional yet powerful way to build the story of your place – city, town, or neighborhood – and make it the core of your economic development strategy. They will use a very local case study.
Noon
Lunch Keynote – Economic Impact of Stadiums, Sports and Events
Sponsored by Strathcona County
Kevin Schmotzer, Cleveland MG
Room: Devonian
The impact of sports in a downtown large or small city including how stadiums are planned and designed to allow walkability for pedestrians to patronize small businesses can determine how economically viable the investment in the stadiums leverage other private investment vs. “sea of parking.” The economic impact of new jobs, private investment, increase in local tax dollars are all impacted positively or negatively within a downtown district with properly designed stadiums, attraction of sports and multi-cultural events. Planning & designing walkable streets that allow for retail & restaurants with outdoor cafés will add to the vibrancy of the neighborhood. Presentation via power point will showcase the successes while identifying the failures.
1:30 p.m.
Afternoon Session
1C: BRE Essentials Stream
BRE for Rural Communities
Michael Held, Rural Development Initiatives, Inc.
Room: Centennial
Nearly 80 percent of new jobs come from existing businesses already located and invested in a community, yet, many rural communities struggle to find meaningful ways to support their greatest asset – local businesses. This session will cover the basics of Business Retention and Expansion and feature several small towns in rural Oregon that are uncovering opportunities for improving business success, creating jobs and setting strategic priorities based on the needs of their existing businesses. Additional highlights include creative models for managing community volunteers in your economic development activities, leveraging constrained resources, and strategies for sustaining long-term BRE efforts.
2C: Community Building Stream
Data is Good but Insights are Better: What Businesses Really Need From Economic Development Professionals
Dave Parsell, LocalIntel
Room: Strathcona
The current economic development playbook tells you to put a community profile online with demographics, available real estate and other content typically required by site selectors. Sounds familiar, right? Well, it’s time for a rethink. This approach is fine for a handful of site selectors, but not the 1.1 million small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) who generate 91% of jobs in Canada – and the needs of these SMBs are very different than those of site selectors. In too many instances, and in too many locations, the needs of SMBs are being overlooked and communities are missing out on opportunities as a consequence. In this sponsored workshop, Dave Parsell, Co-founder and CEO of LocalIntel, draws on extensive company and market research to discuss what businesses really need from economic development professionals to start, expand and thrive in good times and bad. In this session, you’ll learn:
- What insights are and why they matter more to businesses than data.
- How innovative municipalities of all sizes are using next-generation technology to support SMBs.
- How the latest advances in big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence will help economic development professionals support local business growth.
2:15 p.m.
Break
2:30 p.m.
Ice District – Revitalizing Edmonton’s Downtown through Sport and Entertainment Sponsored by the City of Ft. Saskatchewan
Bob Black, Katz Group
Rick Daviss, Executive Director – Downtown Arena project
Dave Loken: Councillor, City of Edmonton
Room: Devonian
What responsibility do businesses, entrepreneurs and community leaders have in building communities? How do you take a dream that was nearly a decade in the making and whose fruition would fuel optimism of what a community can do? Bob will discuss the vision, the leadership qualities, the sound judgment, the passion and the persistence in the face of challenges that it took to design and develop Rogers Place ($613 million) and ICE District as a tremendous catalyst, spurring over $5 billion in current development, to revitalize downtown and re-ignite the community spirit of one of Canada’s great cities.
6:30 p.m.
BREI Annual Meeting, Election of Officers, and Awards Presentation
Evening Activity
Art Gallery of Alberta – 2 Fir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton
THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 2017
7:30 a.m.
Networking Breakfast
Sponsored by the Town of Beaumont
8:00 a.m.
Opening Remarks
Barbara Engelbart McKenzie, BREI Conference Chair
Room: Devonian
8:15 a.m.
Morning Keynote – Dueling Economists
John Rose, City of Edmonton & Todd Hirsch, ATB Financial
Room: Devonian
Is Alberta’s economy rounding the corner in the half of 2017? It’s the million dollar question, as experts debate the provinces economic status. We have secured two leading experts on the economy. In this session, you will find out where they differ and where their outlooks align. They’ll tackle variables affecting growth in our province from corporate tax rates to carbon pricing. We will also find out the answer to some of our most pressing questions:
- Could the Trump presidency be good for Canadian business?
- What are the hottest sectors in the Alberta and Canadian economy?
- What does the rebuild of Alberta’s economy look like?
- How long will a full recovery take?
9:35 a.m.
Morning Breakout Sessions
1D: BRE Essentials Stream
Facilitation Skills Training: Getting the Most out of Group Discussions
Dr. Jason Daniels, University of Alberta
Room: Centennial
Trying to encourage discussion when participants are reluctant, refuse to talk or when the conversations do not flow can be incredibly frustrating. There can be many reasons why people do not want to participate in group discussions. Though we can’t force people to participate in discussion, there are strategies that can maximize the likelihood that group discussion will lead to fruitful discussions and that people will want to participate. In this session, we will discuss sever barriers to having effective group discussions, how to deal with these and how to create conditions that will lead to effective conversations.
2D: Community Building Stream
Bringing Analytics to Life and Telling Untold Stories with Data
Sponsored by City of St. Albert
Rhys Chouinard, Sr. Corp Analyst – St. Albert
Room: Strathcona
Analytics. Business Intelligence. Big Data. Statistical Analysis. With these phrases becoming common in industry, it is often difficult to tell where one buzzword ends and another begins. At its core, this topic describes the process of measuring one’s environment, to understand a process, event, or characteristic. Each phrase above describes a different part of the journey in analyzing and understanding the world around us, usually with the goal of making a good decision or changing behaviour. This talk will describe how to use unconventional techniques to bring data to life, telling the underlying story in an engaging, memorable, and intuitive fashion.
10:20 a.m.
Break
10:35 a.m.
Morning Presentation/Panel
An Unlikely Partnership: Horse Racing and Airports
Paul Ryneveld, Century Downs Racetrack and Casino
Geoff Herdman, Edmonton International Airport
Room: Devonian
Sometimes the beginning or end of your journey is the destination. Edmonton International Airport continues to create a tourist destination with the addition of the development Century Mile Racetrack and Casino by Century Casinos Inc to airport lands in Leduc. Opening in the second half of 2018, Century Mile will augment the Outlet Mall development and existing Red Tail Landing Golf Course, giving Edmontonians and Albertans world class entertainment opportunities.
11:35 a.m.
Lunch Session
Government of Alberta
Dwayne Dreger, Executive Director, Invest Alberta
Sponsored by Sturgeon County
Room: Devonian
1:05 p.m.
Afternoon Breakout Sessions
1E: BRE Essentials Stream
World Markets – Looking Outside Your Borders
Blaine LaBonte, Cougar Drilling
Room: Centennial
When Blaine LaBonte joined family-owned Cougar Tool in 1992, few people realized he would eventually transform the mid-size Canadian firm into an international oilfield services provider. His secret to success was taking his business internationally…to the Middle East. In this forthright, “straight from the horse’s mouth” presentation, Blaine will share his story of learning, understanding, and successfully navigating the path to success in world markets; the importance of sound planning in developing new markets; how local governments, at home, can assist and support exporters in this journey; and, how to create a climate that fosters entrepreneurial thinking throughout your organization for long-term success.
2E: Community Building Stream
Business Visitation – Make it worth everyone’s time
Eric McSweeney & Shawna Lawson, McSweeney & Associates
Room: Strathcona
We all know that businesses are busy and they want to know that a visitation will be worth their time. Likewise, you are busy – so how do you get the best ROI for your community with each visit? It all starts with a solid strategic plan and knowing how the information you get from your companies informs implementation – strengthening investment from existing businesses, as well as ensuring hard services (strategic supply of industrial land, usable commercial spaces, affordable accessible high speed broadband, etc.) and softer services (workforce, business support/training) are meeting their needs and in place to support any new investment into the community. Also, what quick actions/wins can you take to demonstrate to businesses that their time was well-spent?
2:05 p.m.
Break
2:20 p.m.
Afternoon Sessions
1F: BRE Essentials Stream
Stupid Conversations with Crazy People
Jeanine Lassaline-Berglund, Leamington, ON
Room: Centennial
Coming back from the tragic loss of a major employer is hard enough but dealing with the inevitable fall out also meant a re-invention of the role of Economic Development. This session is designed to tell the story of Leamington, Ontario, the loss of Heinz in 2014 and how this became a springboard for change. Living through “Ketchup-Gate” and redefining an identity for our community let alone diversifying our economic base required some unique approaches. This session will outline some of the stupid conversations with crazy people that led us to a new approach.
2F: Community Building Stream
The Visitor Economy: How Tourism is a Catalyst for Economic Growth
Marty Eberth, Travel Alberta
Room: Strathcona
Tourism is one of the fastest growing and most resilient sectors in the world and thanks to the visitor economy, its success can trickle down to every corner of a community. In this session, you’ll learn about trends in experiential travel and how investing in people and partnerships can lead to developing new experiences that are in demand from travelers. Focusing on local and authentic, and using existing infrastructure, every community has an opportunity for economic growth by delivering what today’s traveller is looking for: engaging experiences.
3:25 p.m.
Afternoon Sessions
1G: BRE Essentials Stream
Getting Your House in Order…Making BRE Work in YOUR Community
Karen Fischer, Ontario Minister of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs
Room: Centennial
The Province of Ontario, Regional Economic Development Branch, has developed an award-winning BR+E program supported by field staff, with ‘boots on the ground’ in each region of rural Ontario. Field staff focus on creativity and innovation in program delivery to ensure that the needs of a very diverse range of rural clients of varying size, scale, and capacity can be met through program delivery. This presentation will address how the BR+E program framework can be adapted and delivered to enable a diverse range of clients to access this program effectively, meet their individual needs, and achieve tangible results. Examples will be showcased, as well as additional tools and resources that are in the toolbox to help support BR+E and build capacity in rural communities.
2G: Community Building Stream
Are You Breaking the Laws of Leadership Without Knowing It?
Bob Claxton, John Maxwell Group
Room: Strathcona
Why should you know the Laws of Leadership to be a Success in your business? Everything rises and falls on leadership. How do you define leadership? Can you grow in your skills as a leader? Why is it beneficial to develop leaders on your team? Why not learn from the #1 leadership guru in the world? (Not me but he is my friend & mentor).
In this seminar, you will discover many of the 21 Laws of Leadership. They are laws, and when you break laws, there are consequences. Also in this seminar, you will learn how to keep from reaping the ill effects from violating these laws. Plus, three practical takeaways you can implement in your business right away.
5:00 p.m.
BREI Networking Event
Room: Devonian
FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2017
7:30 a.m.
Networking Breakfast
8:00 a.m.
Opening Remarks
Barbara Engelbart McKenzie, BREI Conference Chair
Room: Devonian
8:15 a.m.
Morning Keynote – Attracting and Retaining Millennial Entrepreneurs
Sponsored by Leduc-Nisku Economic Development Association
Clinton Senkow, Influencive Inc.
Room: Devonian
Clinton will cover and profile countries and cities around the world that have become entrepreneurial hubs. He will go in depth as to why they attract the talent they do, identify opportunities for cities to capitalize, as well as go in depth into what a millennial is and what they like/don’t like. Millennials are the next generation and in this session, he will go in-depth into how you can tap into this amazingly innovative generation of talent.
9:20 a.m.
Morning Sessions
1H: BRE Essentials Stream
The Increasing Professionalism of BRE May Not Be Smart in the New Economy
Peter Kenyon, Initiatives for the Development of Enterprising Action & Strategies
Room: Centennial
As with many long-term initiatives in the fields of Community and Economic Development, the BR+E framework and processes are increasingly being professionalized where community members are seen as consumers, customers, clients and recipients of a program undertaken by professional economic development staff. Peter Kenyon promotes strongly for the renewal of the BR+E model that acts on the belief that ‘the wisdom of the community always exceeds the wisdom of the experts’ and advocates for the return of community members as co-designers, co-owners, co-producers and citizens in action.
2H: Community Building Stream
BRE in the Wake of a Manmade or Natural Disaster
Angela Groeneveld, AG Consulting
Leann Hackman-Carty, EDA Alberta
Room: Strathcona
Knowing exactly who is in your business community and involving them in the preparation process will help to ensure their specific needs are addressed in emergency plans and increase their resilience to the disaster’s impact. IN the event of a disaster, local government cannot act alone in addressing all the recovery needs of a community, especially those of an economic nature. In this session, you will learn how to involve your business community in planning for, and responding to, disasters.
10:25 a.m.
Break
10:35 a.m.
Morning Sessions
1I: BRE Essentials Stream
Developing Industry Clusters
Sponsored by Sturgeon County
Mike Cey, Director, Ag-West Bio
Room: Centennial
Mike will present learnings and best practices on developing Industry Clusters in Canada with specific reference to the highly successful Saskatchewan Ag Bioscience cluster, considered the pre-eminent cluster of its kind in Canada. Topics covered include; Know Your Cluster, Identify the Players, Benchmark and Brand, Understand the Pre-Requisites, Co-ordinate and Collaborate and Tactics. This presentation will provide a good roadmap for those interested in growing their own industry cluster regardless of the subject matter.
2I: Community Building Stream
The Value of Incubators in BRE
Ken Gossen, Agrivalue Processing Business Incubator
Dar Schwanbeck, Northern Alberta Business Incubator (NABI)
Room: Strathcona
A business incubator is an agency organized to support entrepreneurs and existing small businesses by delivering advice, building capacity and facilitating networking. Incubators typically provide affordable commercial spaces, administrative support services and a range of seminars and workshops designed to foster and accelerate small business growth. Critical to the definition of an incubator is the provision of assistance tailored to planning, launching and growing viable businesses within its host community. That said, in a more practical way, an incubator is much like a municipal swimming pool: its value is hard to quantify, it has no direct competitors, and it is good for the community!
The Alberta Processing Business Incubator is the largest in Canada. The session will discuss the impact that is has had on the food industry in Alberta and the lessons learned regarding attracting and expanding food businesses in Alberta.
NABI is a community-based incubator (a less common species than you might think). In contrast to organizations with a mandate to stimulate industries or economic sectors, or fast-track the commercialization of scientific discoveries made at research institutions, NABI serves entrepreneurs that emerge from the network of local business and social relationships; initially, at least, that community is often the market served. Increasing local entrepreneurial capacity and strengthening the local business community are efforts that go hand-in-hand everywhere, but the challenges and opportunities look different from place to place and can vary over time.
11:35 a.m.
Closing Keynote – 13 Ways to Kill Your Community
Sponsored by City of Edmonton
Doug Griffiths, 13 Ways Inc.
Room: Devonian
We all do things that undermine our opportunity for success, whether we are consciously aware of it or not. When speaking to high school students, Doug realized they had all been told time and again how to be successful. The challenge for them, like so many of us, is to realize the consequences of some of their choices, and how they undermine their success. Communities are no different. Many want success, make plans for it, and work hard to be successful, but daily they make decisions or display attitudes that work counter to their long range goals. If we simply stop doing what encourages failure, and ensure our attitude is aligned with our goals, our communities can and will prosper well into the next generation. The step in producing a healthy community is to realize that success depends on community members possessing a deep and real willingness to change, and a desire to fight for success. If a community doesn’t truly desire it, nothing will change. This entertaining and passionate presentation is based on Doug’s bestselling book “13 Ways to Kill your Community” and takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to discussing the attitudes and actions that will define success or failure for a community.
12:45 p.m.
Community Tours**
Alberta’s Industrial Heartland
Description coming soon…
Food Processing Development Centre
Delegates will spend the afternoon touring the state of the art Food Processing Development Centre and Agrivalue Processing Business Incubator. This is a modern, fully equipped pilot plant and product development laboratory facility. It is staffed with experienced food scientists, engineers and technologists. Centre services are designed to strengthen and expand the capability of Alberta’s food processors to meet the challenges of the marketplace through application of new technology and the development of new or improved products and processes.
12:45 p.m. Regional Economic Development Event (Invite Only) **
Business Retention and Expansion International 