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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_01: Come to Lethbridge and join an innovative community for entrepreneurs.
[00:05] SPEAKER_01: With more than a quarter of the 100,000 population under the age of 34, Lethbridge brims with
[00:12] SPEAKER_01: energy.
[00:13] SPEAKER_01: We'll help you to kickstart, innovate, and grow.
[00:17] SPEAKER_01: We'll lethbridge.
[00:18] SPEAKER_01: Southern Alberta's help for innovation and technology.
[00:21] SPEAKER_01: It's the bright choice for business builders.
[00:23] SPEAKER_01: Go to chooselethbridge.ca slash entrepreneur and we'll help you move and grow in Lethbridge.
[00:33] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Canada's podcast, the number one podcast for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs.
[00:40] SPEAKER_02: Hello and welcome to Canada's podcast with Mario Toneguzi joining me today is Aaron
[00:46] SPEAKER_02: Crane who is director of investment attraction for the economic development Lethbridge.
[00:51] SPEAKER_02: Thanks for joining us today Aaron.
[00:54] SPEAKER_02: Thank you Mario, thrilled to be here.
[00:56] SPEAKER_02: Well let me just start by asking you what economic development Lethbridge is and what it does
[01:02] SPEAKER_02: and what its main purpose and mission is.
[01:05] SPEAKER_03: Well, that's a big question to start Mario and economic development has a really big
[01:12] SPEAKER_03: scope and means different things to many different people.
[01:17] SPEAKER_03: It's definition really is that it's the programs, the policies and the activities that seek
[01:25] SPEAKER_03: to improve the economic well-being and quality life of a community.
[01:30] SPEAKER_03: Here at economic development Lethbridge we actually are governed by a very large board
[01:37] SPEAKER_03: of community members.
[01:39] SPEAKER_03: They make up representation from each one of the sectors here in our community and they
[01:45] SPEAKER_03: actually created a really great business plan for us here that has kind of six pillars
[01:51] SPEAKER_03: to the business plan and the first one of that is business retention and expansion.
[01:59] SPEAKER_03: You really have to look at the businesses that you have and figure out how you keep them
[02:04] SPEAKER_03: and how you keep those businesses growing.
[02:08] SPEAKER_03: So that is investment attraction because of course you always want new business coming
[02:12] SPEAKER_03: in.
[02:13] SPEAKER_03: We also look at entrepreneurship and innovation because you do also want to be able to grow
[02:19] SPEAKER_03: business from the ground up.
[02:21] SPEAKER_03: Of course like every good organization we have marketing and advocacy, we have operational
[02:27] SPEAKER_03: excellence and then we have a specific bucket of work for catalytic projects and these
[02:34] SPEAKER_03: are the things that kind of come in out of the blue that really help to revitalize and
[02:41] SPEAKER_03: get a community thriving once again.
[02:43] SPEAKER_03: One of the big ones here in Lethbridge of course is our airport.
[02:47] SPEAKER_03: We are renovating and revitalizing the airport which is great.
[02:53] SPEAKER_03: So again, gosh economic development really encompasses so many different things.
[03:00] SPEAKER_03: There is a great video out there from the International Economic Development Council, IEDC and
[03:08] SPEAKER_03: it talks about this is economic development and they go through and they talk about so
[03:12] SPEAKER_03: many different things.
[03:13] SPEAKER_03: It is job creation.
[03:14] SPEAKER_03: It is new job growth.
[03:16] SPEAKER_03: All of this that is happening in the community and it is true.
[03:20] SPEAKER_03: Economic development is pretty much everything that you look at in a community and it touches
[03:25] SPEAKER_03: many different aspects.
[03:27] SPEAKER_03: One of the reasons I love my job.
[03:30] SPEAKER_02: Speaking of rich, what is your role and what do you do as director of investment attraction?
[03:37] SPEAKER_03: Well, here in Lethbridge we are a community of about 100,000 people.
[03:42] SPEAKER_03: We have a fairly small team on our economic development Lethbridge organization.
[03:50] SPEAKER_03: My title is director of investment attraction.
[03:54] SPEAKER_03: I really do look after there are new businesses coming in and really champion Lethbridge on
[04:01] SPEAKER_03: a national and international stage to get new business interested.
[04:06] SPEAKER_03: But as a team we tend to look after a little bit of everything.
[04:11] SPEAKER_03: So I do champion the business retention and expansion stream of our business plan.
[04:17] SPEAKER_03: So I go out into our community and talk to a lot of our business professionals and really
[04:23] SPEAKER_03: help them make connections within the community and within our government assistance.
[04:29] SPEAKER_03: We do a lot of work with the province and a lot of work with the Trade Commissioner Service
[04:34] SPEAKER_03: and Global Affairs Canada to really make those key connections to keep everybody moving forward.
[04:43] SPEAKER_02: Now that is a big role, big job that you have.
[04:47] SPEAKER_02: Tell me a little bit about yourself, your background and how you got to be where you are now in this role.
[04:55] SPEAKER_03: You have sandwiched these questions really, really well Mario because you know my background just like economic development is very diverse.
[05:04] SPEAKER_03: It's a little bit of everything kind of all rolled in one.
[05:08] SPEAKER_03: I am originally from the United States.
[05:11] SPEAKER_03: I am an immigrant to Canada and loving my loving my new country.
[05:17] SPEAKER_03: And like you know the video right that I referenced a bit ago to it is a little bit of everything and it's one of the things that I love and my background.
[05:28] SPEAKER_03: I was actually born and raised in Arizona.
[05:30] SPEAKER_03: So I always joke about you know being an Arizona girl living in Canada freezing to death.
[05:36] SPEAKER_03: But honestly you know I also tell people that you know if I'm going to live in Canada that left bridge is a great place to be right.
[05:46] SPEAKER_03: I have landed in you know one of the sunniest places.
[05:50] SPEAKER_03: And again we are only an hour north of the US border so it certainly doesn't help me during these times of COVID when the border is closed.
[05:59] SPEAKER_03: But yeah my background is very diverse.
[06:04] SPEAKER_03: I dabbled in a little bit of everything.
[06:06] SPEAKER_03: I got actually started in performing arts and managing performing arts centers.
[06:12] SPEAKER_03: I've done sports entertainment and project management, hospitality, tourism, event planning and it has all led me here to economic development.
[06:26] SPEAKER_03: Wow how long have you been there by the way?
[06:28] SPEAKER_03: Oh well you know I say I'm a new convert to Canada but I've actually been here for 15 years.
[06:34] SPEAKER_03: I'm still cold still haven't climateized but you know I'm getting there.
[06:38] SPEAKER_02: And how about how long you've been in your current role?
[06:42] SPEAKER_03: So I have been here with economic development left bridge for over five years.
[06:48] SPEAKER_03: It has gone by extremely fast and you know there are those days where you think oh gosh have I been here for five years already and every day there's something new there's a new challenge.
[06:59] SPEAKER_03: There's a new business.
[07:00] SPEAKER_03: There's a new industry that needs help so it really keeps you on your toes.
[07:04] SPEAKER_02: Okay one of the interesting phrases or slogans if you want to refer to it that way is brighter together.
[07:15] SPEAKER_02: Tell me what that means and why it's important for left bridge.
[07:20] SPEAKER_03: Great question.
[07:22] SPEAKER_03: So a brighter together is our new community brand.
[07:25] SPEAKER_03: So a few years ago we started this pro well actually longer than a few years ago it's probably been six or seven years ago when the community actually started to have this talk about needing a brand that captures the personality of the city.
[07:43] SPEAKER_03: So that way we can continue to promote ourselves into different audiences and help to attract new interest into our community.
[07:53] SPEAKER_03: That's what the brighter together is it is our community brand.
[07:58] SPEAKER_03: And you know this was born out of a lot of research that we did within the community to find out about what everyone here thinks makes us special.
[08:09] SPEAKER_03: And we also did a lot of you know outside community engagement too about you know same thing you know what do people who look at left bridge what what actually makes them consider it.
[08:20] SPEAKER_03: And one of the things that we uncovered is that here in southern Alberta and you know I'll talk about left bridge quite a bit but we do live in an ecosystem and what we like to refer to as a trading area here within southern Alberta that is quite unique and we do things together quite often.
[08:42] SPEAKER_03: And you know the bright is something that we we've could we've talked about for numerous years right that you know I referenced you know again being from Arizona and how you know living in southern Alberta is quite nice because we do get those sunny days right and that is really what helps our agriculture community right we are kind of a bread basket here.
[09:05] SPEAKER_03: Being bright also refers to our post secondary education institutions and again even just the innovation in this region right we are heavy into agriculture I always think of them as the original entrepreneurs right you know those settlers who came out and saw the potential and acted on it right.
[09:28] SPEAKER_03: And I also think that bright you know talks about value in a really nice way that I think captures left bridge in southern Alberta because we do have a benefit and we are important to the rest of the world and that is something that you know we've been working on quite a bit is talking about our agriculture community and our hashtag is southern Alberta feeds the world right because we do have a lot of.
[09:58] SPEAKER_03: And I think that is one of those major processors here that you know really do work to send food out to the to the rest of the world.
[10:06] SPEAKER_02: You know I find interesting you know the word brighter right and you you mentioned right I don't remember the actual number but I do call that I know that left bridge and then Alberta in general has one of the highest number of days in the year for sunshine right.
[10:25] SPEAKER_03: Well southern Alberta is really known for this medicine hats are neighbor to the east actually does have the highest number of days right but we are close behind it and that is one of the great things about this region as a whole Alberta in general right that you know we are great for food processing and you know the crop diversity that comes out of this still amazes me to this day.
[10:54] SPEAKER_03: And let's face it sunshine makes everybody happy right.
[10:58] SPEAKER_03: It does as well and again we still get the cold right I'm still the Arizona girl freezing to death but as long as the sun is shining that that certainly helps and you know that's a great you know tie into some of the the greenhouse development that's happening here in this area and goes back to you know kind of talking about that value and you know when you can cut down on some of those things that helps a lot in the long run.
[11:24] SPEAKER_02: Yeah let's talk a little bit about business you know when we talk about business well a lot of people think of the big corporations in the country but you know really the backbone of the economy whether it's local whether it's national it is the entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial spirit across the country.
[11:43] SPEAKER_02: How do entrepreneurs contribute I guess to the overall economy in left bridge and in southern Alberta.
[11:50] SPEAKER_03: Well you hit the nail on the head Mario because within Alberta and within Canada it really is the small to medium sized enterprises that are the largest job or the largest business segment in left bridge and southern Alberta right no different than the province and the nation.
[12:14] SPEAKER_03: And the nice thing is again I always you know kind of go back to farming being the original entrepreneurs right but everyone starts somewhere and I always think that you know everyone starts as an entrepreneur and then grows from there and that's the nice thing about what happens here in our region.
[12:33] SPEAKER_03: One of the facilities that we own and operate is called tech connect and it is a technology incubator for entrepreneurs so I mentioned at the beginning that one of the pillars of our business plan is to grow and incubate companies and that's one of the ways that we do that is by providing those support services so that they can grow.
[12:58] SPEAKER_03: There was a recent study that came out of the government of Canada and actually I don't think it was a study I think it was just a review of the stats and the small businesses and those entrepreneurs are responsible for most of the job growth that is happening these days right you know we like to think that it's you know the.
[13:23] SPEAKER_03: The shiny new businesses that come into a region but it's really not it's you know growing businesses from the ground up working with your existing businesses to see them grow and expand and and that's real focuses that we've had even prior to covid but definitely we've seen a big shift now that they really need our help more than anything and so we've really beefed up a lot of those programs to.
[13:53] SPEAKER_03: So I think that's why I think it's really important to provide that support and that encouragement to see how the entrepreneurs and the small businesses can help bring solutions to challenges and that's the nice thing that I see about you know the entrepreneurs and the small businesses is that they really do focus in on that and that's something that I think we all need right now.
[14:16] SPEAKER_01: To connect a center for entrepreneurship and innovation and let bridge has been spring boarding entrepreneurs to success for 10 years and counting our spirit of innovation is a way of life we have an incredible environment our innovators are not afraid to stand apart because they know that in let bridge we are brighter together we are let bridge come and join us go to choose let bridge dot c a slash.
[14:45] SPEAKER_01: So let's go to the entrepreneur and we'll help you move and grow in let bridge.
[14:50] SPEAKER_02: Let's think of myself as a business owner in I don't know we'll take the same one thing okay and I'm thinking of moving my company and I want to establish roots maybe in let bridge what would you say to me to convince me that let bridge is the place for me to bring my business.
[15:13] SPEAKER_03: Well I would go back to again talking about how we are brighter together and mentioned those same things right you know that it really does come down to you know having that available workforce that you're looking for and let bridge is pretty unique and our area is really unique because we do have to post secondary education institutions which is again unique for city our size.
[15:40] SPEAKER_03: Our community is a desirable and welcoming place to live and to raise a family and that is one of the things that we found in a lot of the research that we do you know we do struggle a bit with some of our post secondary graduates you know wanting to go out and go out into the urban locations right and those big cities.
[16:05] SPEAKER_03: But one of the great things that we found is a bit of a boomerang effect right that they go out and they get experience in those larger city centers.
[16:15] SPEAKER_03: But they always come back to let bridge around you know that late 20s when they've married they're settling down they're looking to raise their kids because they know that this is the community where they want to do it right it's a good size everyone you know is connected.
[16:33] SPEAKER_03: We're brighter together people do things you know and help each other out so I think those are those are some of the things you know that I would talk to a new business about and one of the kind of the taglines that came out of some of our branding was about how we do things differently here and how we're looking for businesses who think differently and are also looking to do things differently.
[17:02] SPEAKER_02: I would imagine too that there's a quality of life aspect here too right you know smaller community obviously housing affordability is much better than some of the major centers whether they be Toronto Vancouver or Calgary even Edmonton is that an advantage for left bridge and attracting people and businesses there.
[17:26] SPEAKER_03: Yes very much so you know one of our areas of growth is in that technology and innovation piece right and when you look at some of those key centers like you know Vancouver and Toronto and you know when you can position you know some of the areas you know like left bridge up against them to you know say hey look at again the value that you would be getting and coming into this community.
[17:56] SPEAKER_03: That speaks a lot I have a colleague Mike Prosu he is our market intelligence advisor and you know he's done some great work about you know putting this all on our website under the market data section to really you know talk about and provide not just anecdotal or you know great story but the data behind that story right and what that looks like and what are all of those things.
[18:26] SPEAKER_03: So you know you know rates of change and the information that you can benchmark against other places.
[18:35] SPEAKER_02: Now you've mentioned a few industries like technology, agriculture, etc. I'm just wondering are there any particular industries or areas of growth that you see into the in the future for for leverage and the vicinity I guess.
[18:53] SPEAKER_03: Gosh there are so many Mario agriculture for us is huge we did participate in the recent mid-sized cities report that's done by the conference board of Canada and again agriculture is a huge one for us right.
[19:11] SPEAKER_03: We are not as involved in oil and gas we are different than many other communities in Alberta agriculture really is our staple it is 20% of our GDP here locally and that's just for agriculture then you add in all of those support services and those do include things like supply chain and logistics.
[19:34] SPEAKER_03: We grow a lot of that commodity here and we've got to be able to get it into markets and out into the rest of the world.
[19:44] SPEAKER_03: Manufacturing goes right along hand in hand and those are some of the key successes that we've had here in less bridges that we do get some of the you know key processors coming in but then there's all of those support services that join in with them in order to make a really cohesive ecosystem.
[20:02] SPEAKER_03: Technology I've talked about before and one of the great things to about this area that is starting to get more coverage and again most people when you say oh hey do you know where less bridges they have some kind of comment about the wind.
[20:17] SPEAKER_03: And I haven't gone used to it yet but I have learned to appreciate it right the wind always brings in the change and of course for us that means that we've seen a lot in renewable energy wind is big solar is big we're getting into geothermal into micro generation right so you know a lot of these large processing facilities right are huge users of the utility.
[20:47] SPEAKER_03: So looking for again going back to that value any kind of value that we can provide and being able to rely a little on that wind power and the solar power comes in handy and is a great benefit.
[21:02] SPEAKER_02: You mentioned the fact that left bridge isn't as dependent as other areas of Alberta on the oil and gas industry diversity it is a big idea right now out in the province but it seems to me that left bridge has embraced a diversity economic diversity for years now correct.
[21:25] SPEAKER_03: Yes and it's been one of those things that keeps getting us some of those headlines right I talked about the conference board of Canada report and you know one of their headlines was that you know less bridges firing on all cylinders right so now don't get me wrong when the rest of the province hurts so do we and we see a lot of that trickle down right but
[21:50] SPEAKER_03: left bridge has always been known for its stability right and it may not be as great when there's a boom happening in the rest of the province right we don't see that that same benefit but we also don't see the bust when it happens so I think if you you know go and you ask a lot of our community some of what came out of our branding efforts was really around you know being grounded and you know
[22:19] SPEAKER_03: that is you know tied into our agriculture roots everyone which I think rather find the stability and be diverse and be able to handle things as they happen rather than to go the other way at this point so it is definitely a benefit for our area.
[22:39] SPEAKER_02: Can you talk a little bit about some of the initiatives research surveys that economic development left bridge has done to support entrepreneurs.
[22:51] SPEAKER_03: Oh gosh so all economic development agencies I think have a real focus on that market intelligence piece right it's finding that information gathering it analyzing it and then putting it out right so
[23:08] SPEAKER_03: we have done a lot of internal work to do surveys out to the businesses right to find out what's happening and get some of those anecdotal responses and identify some areas where maybe trends are happening where businesses aren't doing as well or maybe again to highlight some trends where businesses are doing really well and how can we meet both of those needs right so
[23:38] SPEAKER_03: we do a lot of that work I think over the last year we've done like four which is hard right that everybody gets a little bit of that survey fatigue but we also work with partners across Canada and internationally to mine and uncover some of key market intelligence to provide back to the businesses right and I again would mention you know that market data section on our website.
[24:08] SPEAKER_03: We get a lot of entrepreneurs on there and we have partnered with a great company called local Intel where you know we provide the information but then they also tell especially entrepreneurs and small businesses how you can use that information because just knowing what the information is is part of the battle it's how do you use the information in order to make those informed decisions.
[24:32] SPEAKER_03: And then again I think yeah the last part of that is just sharing that information out right and that is part of the challenge I think for many people is once you've got the information how do you get it out and you know into the hands of the people who need it and we do that in many ways this podcast being one of them so thank you and you know also you know our social media channels we host events and there are a plethora of them you know are about the world.
[25:02] SPEAKER_03: you know, coming out.
[25:04] SPEAKER_03: Our tech connect team has a program called tech connected
[25:09] SPEAKER_03: with an ED at the end for that educational component,
[25:12] SPEAKER_03: really to help entrepreneurs and small businesses
[25:17] SPEAKER_03: to make sure that they are ready for anything
[25:20] SPEAKER_03: that the world has to throw at them.
[25:23] SPEAKER_03: And we have found that out this year
[25:25] SPEAKER_03: that the world has a lot to throw.
[25:27] SPEAKER_03: And do you need to be ready?
[25:28] SPEAKER_03: And you need to have a good plan.
[25:30] SPEAKER_03: And that's part of the process.
[25:32] SPEAKER_03: And we're here to help them do that.
[25:35] SPEAKER_02: Great.
[25:35] SPEAKER_02: So Aaron, what does the future hold for brighter together
[25:39] SPEAKER_02: and for left bridge?
[25:41] SPEAKER_03: Oh gosh.
[25:42] SPEAKER_03: Well, our plan Mario, I think is to just keep getting brighter.
[25:47] SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
[25:48] SPEAKER_03: That's always good.
[25:50] SPEAKER_03: That's all we can do.
[25:51] SPEAKER_03: Keep bringing in new voices.
[25:54] SPEAKER_03: Keep working together.
[25:56] SPEAKER_03: And that's really the goal of our business plan.
[26:01] SPEAKER_03: It has always been to keep doing that.
[26:05] SPEAKER_03: We talk a little bit about those internal audience
[26:09] SPEAKER_03: to keep working with our businesses,
[26:11] SPEAKER_03: helping them to shift, to innovate,
[26:15] SPEAKER_03: and create new opportunities just within our own community.
[26:21] SPEAKER_03: And then of course that external look is,
[26:23] SPEAKER_03: and again, thank you for your assistance with this.
[26:26] SPEAKER_03: But putting left bridge out on that map
[26:29] SPEAKER_03: and getting everyone talking about it
[26:31] SPEAKER_03: because a lot of the commodities that are grown within Canada
[26:36] SPEAKER_03: and a lot of that animal protein,
[26:40] SPEAKER_03: a lot of it does come from this region.
[26:43] SPEAKER_03: And there is a benefit not only to our community,
[26:47] SPEAKER_03: but to the province of Alberta and to Canada as a whole,
[26:51] SPEAKER_03: to really tell that story out into the world.
[26:58] SPEAKER_03: We want left bridge to be known as a place that is brighter together.
[27:03] SPEAKER_03: Okay, super.
[27:04] SPEAKER_03: Well, thanks very much, Aaron, for joining us today.
[27:07] SPEAKER_02: Great. Thank you, Mario.
[27:09] SPEAKER_02: It's been a pleasure.
[27:10] SPEAKER_02: Okay, super.
[27:11] SPEAKER_02: That was Aaron Crane,
[27:13] SPEAKER_02: who is Director Investment Attraction
[27:15] SPEAKER_02: at Economic Development Left Bridge.
[27:18] SPEAKER_02: This has been Canada's podcast with Mario Tana-Guzzi.
[27:22] SPEAKER_02: Thanks for joining us today.
[27:25] SPEAKER_01: Bold, vibrant, technological.
[27:29] SPEAKER_01: In Let's Bridge, our spirit of innovation
[27:31] SPEAKER_01: is more than just the way we do business.
[27:34] SPEAKER_01: It's the way we live and the way we succeed.
[27:37] SPEAKER_01: We'll help you to kickstart, innovate, and grow in Let's Bridge.
[27:42] SPEAKER_01: Southern Alberta's hub for innovation and technology.
[27:45] SPEAKER_01: It's the bright, affordable choice for business builders.
[27:49] SPEAKER_01: Go to chooselethbridge.ca slash entrepreneur
[27:52] SPEAKER_01: and we'll help you moving grow in Let's Bridge.
