GET ALONG LITTLE DOGGIE:
On Oct. 17, the team at the South Grow Regional Initiative, a local regional economic development alliance of twenty-six communities, announced a new partner project to make economic data and tools publicly available to the region.
In partnership with the Saskatchewan-based company Townfolio, the deal will establish publicly available profiles for communities in the region that will include in-depth economic data and analytical tools.
“By partnering with Townfolio to provide economic data for our communities, we are adding a powerful new tool that will help us attract businesses and investment. Every SouthGrow community is going to have these world-class market data tools to use. We have a lot to offer and now we can share that,” Jim Willett, Deputy Mayor of the Village of Coutts, and Chairperson of SouthGrow stated.
On the new partnership between his company and the alliance of communities, Townfolio CTO Davie Lee explained: “It can be really difficult for individuals or businesses to find accurate economic data for communities in Canada. Many of these communities simply do not have the time or budget to manage their public data, and find it difficult to promote their themselves to attract businesses to invest. This partnership will empower SouthGrow’s communities to show-off the value their communities to site selectors looking to invest in the region.”
According to the team at SouthGrow, there is an amount of opportunity for southern Alberta. An economic powerhouse in food production, as well as value-added food processing, the region benefits from fertile soil and a stable environment. Considering that the United Nations has estimated the global demand for food with increase seventy percent by 2050, southern Alberta is poised to benefit, and SouthGrow wants the world to know that our region is open for business.
Based in Saskatoon, Sask. and launched in 2015 by young Canadian entrepreneurs Lee and Ryley Iverson, Townfolio is a trusted community profile network used by municipalities and businesses to access hard-to-find public data and discover local opportunities across the country. After interviewing dozens of economic developers across the country and learning that communities need help managing their public data to properly promote their communities for investment, the team launched a software product to aggregate and visualize public data, automating the community profile.
In addition, the team at the SouthGrow Regional Initiative, a local regional economic development alliance of twenty-six municipalities, announced a new partnerproject to provide grant writing services for local communities. In partnership with Factor 5, a grant writing consultancy, the deal will provide a monthly report of grant opportunities available to municipalities, as well as grant writing and project design services at a discounted rate.
“For many of our communities, grant opportunities represent an important source of financial assistance to promote community growth... Yes, from an economic perspective, but also from a social perspective. We want our communities to grow and thrive so we remain an attractive place to live and do business. We want our children to see southern Alberta for everything it has to offer.”