Lethbridge County business-friendly

Survey shows high satisfaction rating

For Lethbridge County, meat and potatoes aren’t the only important industries. In addition to its many farms and ag-related businesses, the county has more than 200 businesses and industries not related to food production. And they’re happy to be there.

That’s the news from a new survey of county-based businesses, completed by a Toronto consulting firm over the summer. It found 91.3 per cent who responded voiced “overall business satisfaction — with more than 23 per cent of them more satisfied with things than they were a year ago.

Better still, more than 56 per cent of them are planning to expand operations in the next year or so — most of them within the county.

“The high level of satisfaction among survey participants is encouraging,” says Reeve Lorne Hickey.

“Lethbridge County is a great place to do business, and we were pleased to see how many survey respondents plan to expand their operations in the near future.”

But there were also some problems raised, like poor internet service.

So there are issues “we can work on to best support existing businesses and attract future economic development,” he adds.

Difficulties in finding skilled employees were also mentioned, along with questions about the county’s tax rates.

“We’re happy with the results,” says Martin Ebel, the county’s economic development officer.

“The survey provides not only transparency, accountability and a good baseline for future evaluation, but also highlights areas where more work has to be done for the county to stay competitive.”

He says 80 of the county’s business were selected randomly by MDB Insight, for the first study of its kind in recent years. The results are now part of the county’s strategic plan.

The county has developed an expanding commercial industrial sector in recent years, Ebel says.

In addition to older areas including Stewart Siding and the airport, it has seen ongoing growth in the Broxburn area, the Duncan industrial area east of the airport, and the RAVE land immediately east of the city.

As well as Canadian Pacific’s rail yard at Kipp, Ebel cites ongoing developments west and east along Highway 3.

And to the south, he adds, the Transmark rail facility near Wilson Siding continues to expand, handling more large items like wind turbine towers, and storing more rail cars during seasonal ebbs.