‘Clusters’ with caution, Invest Medicine Hat says

The future of economic development in Medicine Hat could involve a move to develop clusters, but should be tempered by knowing Medicine Hat’s limitations as well as assets, said the head of the city’s economic development agency.

Ryan Jackson, of Invest Medicine Hat, gave his company’s second-year report to council, stating also that his is in late-stage discussions with four firms that could lead to nearly $200 million in local investment and hundreds of new permanent jobs.

However, labour shortages — specifically related to skill sets — limit the ability of bringing new technology firms here, or what’s being offered in the private and municipal real estate market, and it has sent companies looking elsewhere.

“If this was 2015, we’d have got ’em,” said Jackson, referring to the deepest part of the recent recession.

“There is an advantage in that the city has land, utilities and a development wing, but at the same time there’s a finite amount of all of it,” said Jackson. “You have to be aware of your capacity. Talking about bringing in a 50,000-job manufacturing cluster, we just couldn’t do it.”

Invest is in a 16-month extension, at a value of $538,000, of an original two-year contract.

In 2017, it hosted officials from 76 companies who visited Medicine Hat to discuss what’s on offer here.

Coun. Phil Turnbull endorsed the work of the group and said economic development is difficult, but things are looking up.

“A lot of it has to do with what’s happening (in the economy) and what’s going to change, where is that other opportunity,” said Turnbull.

Among the highlights cited, the group authored seven full business plans that companies could pick up in sectors the groups sees as having potential to take hold in the area.

In the last year, Invest claims successes of helping five new businesses set up shop, involving $8.8 million in private investment and 33 new jobs.

Those include a merger of Atlantis Research Laboratories and Form-Tech machining to build cleaner burning oilfield flaring equipment, Bluenergy Solarwind Canada’s new head office, as well as Fieldberg Farms hemp processing and a craft brewery.

“These are quick wins,” said Jackson. “Deciding to invest a significant amount of capital into a community is a significant process.

“We’re in year three and it’s a good opportunity to look at the strategy, that could include adding business attraction, workforce attraction, helping existing businesses to expand, or the development of the cluster model.”

“Cluster” has become a watchword among economic developers, — the underlying theory is to focus efforts of developing a niche to attract several related industries, therefore creating a workforce and encouraging other support industries to form a cluster.

Jackson’s points about labour skills struck a note with Coun. Jim Turner.

“I think that if you could fill the vacancies, that would be a lot of economic development right there,” said Turner. “I think that needs to be a priority in 2018.”

The agency plans to continue that work in 2018, as well as continue to promote aerospace industry development in conjunction with the unmanned vehicle proving ground at Foremost.

“We have a lot of work still to do,” said Jackson.