The Airdrie Chamber of Commerce heard a presentation from ATB's Chief Economist on Wednesday (November 29) at the 2017 Airdrie Business Breakfast and Economic Update, and the message was mainly good news.

"There's a lot of talk about 2017 being the recovery year, but I actually like to use the word, it's our evolving year," explained Todd Hirsch. "Recovery really means you're just going back to where you were, and I think Alberta's economy is actually evolving. We're not going back to where we were in 2014."

Hirsch explained that the main change to Alberta's economy is the role of the energy sector. In the past, the energy sector has been the engine driving the economy. Going forward, Hirsch predicts the energy sector while still remaining important, calling it the backbone of the economy, but he believes new sectors like agriculture will actually drive economic growth. Hirsch also said the unemployment rate will be a little slow coming down, but is moving in a positive direction.

Hirsch believes all of this is reason to be optimistic.

"One thing Alberta is known for, even in recessions or good times or bad times, there's always opportunities. We're moving into a period of time right now, the recession is behind us, our economy is expanding, but I think there's good news because there are more opportunities being created, and they're not just in the energy sector."

Hirsch said this is especially good news for Airdrie, which checks a lot of boxes when it comes to economic development. Kent Rupert, Team Lead for Economic Development with the City of Airdrie, agreed.

"We're such a fast growing community, both on the residential side and on the commercial industrial side, and we're continually evolving. You know, we're in a good, fortunate position because we just continue to move along. We're not downtown Calgary, which [has] 30 percent vacancy."

Hirsch called Airdrie a great business city with a number of characteristics that make it an attractive place to live and work and said the proximity to both Calgary and especially the airport, combined with a great industrial and residential presence put Airdrie in a great economic position.

 

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