Capital Region OK’s new agency
Staff will oversee economic strategy for entire area
The Capital Region Board approved in principle the formation of a new regional economic development agency Thursday, despite backroom grumbling over the name.
The plan was called the Edmonton Metropolitan Regional Economic Development Strategy.
“We’ve had projects derailed for much less,” Morinville Mayor Lisa Holmes said.
“This is a mating dance,” St. Albert Mayor Nolan Crouse, the board’s chair, said after the motion to approve in principle with a list of conditions finally passed 23-1.
A mistrust of Edmonton, by far the largest player in the room, has historically been a key factor in decisions at the regional level. This new regional agency would align marketing and investment efforts of all 24 counties and municipalities and would also make the efforts apolitical.
The Capital Region Board would appoint a board of directors, which in turn would oversee the chief executive and three staffers. The board of directors would have four municipal representatives, four from industry and four from various institutions and associations. One provincial representative would be non-voting.
“Most business representatives go across borders anyway,” said Brad Ferguson, head of Edmonton Economic Development, who sat on the steering committee overseeing the plan development.
It gets away from the attitude of “only within my borders,” Ferguson said. “To do that, you have to believe in the region. We’re in a world where city regions win.”
Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson said if the Capital Region Board decides to vote the plan down, he’s willing to talk with a “coalition of the willing” in the hallway to make it happen anyway.
Redwater Mayor Mel Smith, the only one to vote against the plan, said he approves of the idea but thinks the board is going too fast.
“How is it going to be governed, who is taking the lead and what is the ultimate cost going to (be)?” he asked.
Under an initial funding proposal, Edmonton would pay two-thirds, or $400,000, of the $600,000 cost for the first year. An updated report with more funding and governance detail is scheduled to come back to the board this fall.