Edmonton can inject $2.1 trillion into Canada’s economy: EEDC Pres.
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With the mantra "cleaner, greener, safer, faster, cheaper," Edmonton companies can fuel the energy boom while the city injects $2.1 trillion into Canada's economy in the next 20 years, says the head of the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation.
That outlook is a far cry from EEDC president Brad Ferguson's first meeting with Edmonton city council, where he was given an ultimatum: turn the company around or risk its demise.
A year later, in his annual address to EEDC members on Tuesday, Ferguson is optimistic.
"Nothing like a little bit of pressure to kick off your year," said Ferguson to a room of 1,000 business leaders at Edmonton's Shaw Conference Centre.
Of course, the "cleaner, greener, safer, faster, cheaper" mantra is not a tag line. The EEDC has a history of battling with branding.
Make Something Edmonton, a million-dollar task force to change the image of the city from what Mayor Don Iveson once termed the "most underestimated city in North America," was launched in 2012 and continues to be developed. It was just the latest attempt to re-brand Edmonton.
Other attempts have included a $130,000 regional marketing project in 2003 by the EEDC's predecessor Economic Development Edmonton; a 2005 $480,000 campaign spearheaded by then Mayor Stephen Mandel; and a 2006 campaign to change the city's slogan to "It's Cooler Here" that was later abandoned.
The cost of these attempts has been more than $1.5 million and speeches at Tuesday's luncheon veered more toward building the city's brand through action.
"We need to move beyond just talking about it, we need to start living it," said Ferguson.
He explained that the EEDC is now younger and many of its executives have had their roles changed in the past year, making it more relevant and forward-thinking. But the key to future success, he said, is using the oilsands as a platform for innovation.
"We need to be focused on (diversification) and we need to have a national imperative that calls for it. That's how we have a diversified economy," he said.
Ferguson said the involvement of other Canadian cities in a national strategy is imperative but so is education, something Alberta has made cuts to in recent years.
"We can't go backwards on (education). We have to continue to lead in our post-secondary institutions," Ferguson said. "This is not a time to take your cards off the table with universities. It's a time to double down because there's never been this much opportunity."
Ferguson said the job now is for the city to concentrate less on internal pride and more on telling the rest of the world about local successes.
