The City of Airdrie has unveiled it's new 10 Year Economic Strategy and they picked a key week for Canada's economy to do it in.  

The city decided Small Business Week, from October 15th - 19th, would be an excellent time to unveil their plans, says Economic Development Officer Sara Chamberlain.  "It's a really excellent time to acknowledge all of the small businesses that we have in Airdrie and across Canada.  So it only seemed fitting to us that we unveil our economic strategy during this week which acknowledges the importance of business to Airdrie now and into the future."

Chamberlain explains that in developing the strategy the city consulted with businesses, residents, partners, and stakeholders over the past two years.  More than 1,500 people told them what they liked about Airdrie, what they would like to see changed in Airdrie, and where they think Airdrie can go in the future.

The strategy sets a vision for Airdrie to become "The place to be for business and talent in Western Canada."  Chamberlain says that will involve leveraging Airdrie's strengths.

"When we're looking at growing into a sustainable and stable community over the long term, we really want to focus on becoming a place that businesses and our future workforce are attracted to.  So this economic strategy is about taking Airdrie's strengths, and we have many of them, and leveraging them to make Airdrie a place that draws visitors, entrepreneurs, talented workers, and new businesses.  We believe that that combination of making Airdrie a place that people want to be, now and into the future, will help make us resilient and sustainable both now and into the future."

Its theme is "Tapping into Airdrie's potential," something that Chamberlain says they heard over and over while consulting for the strategy.

"We heard from businesses and residents that Airdrie has so much potential.  We have so many great things going for our community and there is so much more that we can do and so many more opportunities that we can seize."

The theme defines three key objectives to build on Airdrie's strengths, address its challenges and seize opportunities.  The strategy is organized into three key areas: The place to be, Right for business and A connected community.  "Under each of those pillars, we've identified priorities and some key actions that we need to take over the next ten years for Airdrie to be in a position to be a sustainable and stable community," says Chamberlain.

The City of Airdrie will lead the strategy, recognizing that it will need the support of businesses, organizations, and residents to be successful.  While several projects relating to the strategy are already underway, others will be added over the course of the next decade and city staff will reach out to community stakeholders for partnership opportunities.

To learn more about the strategy, visit airdrie.ca/economicstrategy to view the full report. 

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