Red Deer County Economic Development Strategy January 2017 Page 2 Red Deer County Economic Development Strategy Table of Contents Section 1 – Introduction to The Red Deer County Strategic Planning Process ...................... 3 1.1 Red Deer County Today – Summary of The Baseline Report ............................................................. 4 Key Demographics .............................................................................................................................. 4 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats ................................................................................ 5 Overview of Economic Sectors ........................................................................................................... 6 Key Characteristics of Major Industries ............................................................................................. 6 1.2 Red Deer County – The Plan Going Forward ...................................................................................... 8 The Plan’s Vision, Guiding Principles & Strategic Objectives ............................................................. 8 Understanding This Economic Development Plan ........................................................................... 10 Economic Development in the County ............................................................................................ 11 Section 2 – The Strategy Recommendations ............................................................................13 2.1 How This Strategy Works ...................................................................................................................... 13 2.2 The Four Strategic Objectives................................................................................................................ 13 Part 1: Entrepreneurship and Innovation .........................................................................15 Part 2: Strengthening Partnerships .................................................................................22 Part 3: Industry and Commerce ......................................................................................25 Part 4: Location Logistics ................................................................................................45 2.3 Contacts for This Plan ............................................................................................................................ 48 Section 3 – Appendices ..............................................................................................................49 3.1 The Complete Baseline Report .............................................................................................................. 49 3.2 Index of Acronyms ................................................................................................................................. 49 3.3 Major References and Stakeholder Interviews ..................................................................................... 50 Red Deer County Economic Development Strategy Page 3 Section 1 – Introduction to The Red Deer County Strategic Planning Process In March 2016, Red Deer County launched a strategic planning process that would result in its first-ever County-wide economic development plan. The objectives of the process were to engage County residents, businesses and leaders in an extensive consultation process that would provide direction for the region’s future when it came to economic development planning, and ultimately to produce a comprehensive plan with a reasonable number of actionable targets that would generate managed and measured growth. The County already has a strong commitment to economic development. This plan therefore builds on the local philosophy that decisions across all departments are made through an economic development lens, and that staff and civic leaders each contribute to Red Deer County’s objectives around growth management and prosperity. Based on this thinking, the development of the strategic plan took shape in three major stages. The first two stages involved an expansive program of research and data mapping for the baseline report which is summarized in this section (with the full Baseline Report in the appendices), and an extensive amount of consultation that included: 40+ key interviews with both internal and external stakeholders; 7 separate county and regional tours, site visits and research sessions; 5 sessions with County leaders and staff; 2 structured public sessions including a World Café; 2 extensive surveys, one to residents and one for business; A regional round table workshop with key economic development stakeholders. Figure 1: Red Deer County Strategic Planning Process Stages products/services Baseline Report final research industry analysis site visits Plan complete GIS Consult Baseline demographics interviews DRAFT the plan markets/trends surveys Develop The present the plan Stakeholders Research Research the PESTLED world cafe plan approvals The third and final stage of the process involved the final round of consultation and interviews, the remaining research into best practices to benchmark the strategy recommendations, and the production of the second and final report. Page 4 Red Deer County Economic Development Strategy 1.1 Red Deer County Today – Summary of The Baseline Report Key Demographics As seen in Table 1 below, the population in the Red Deer County Area has seen strong growth and has increased by 41,814, or 45 per cent between 1996 and 2011. Over the same period, Alberta has grown by only 35 per cent. Table 1: Population Change in Red Deer County Area, 1996 to 2011 140,000 134,320 130,000 120,000 110,000 100,000 92,386 90,000 1996 2001 2006 2011 Source: Statistics Canada. (2002)(2007)(2012). Note: Red Deer Area (RDA) refers to Red County and all area municipalities. The strong growth experienced in the Red Deer County Area over the past 15 years is anticipated to continue for the foreseeable future, with population growth forecast to increase by a further 70 per cent between 2011 and 2041. This is a slightly stronger growth rate than anticipated at the provincial level. As illustrated in Figure 1, the age characteristics of the Red Deer Area are slightly older than observed at the Alberta level. Figure 1: Age Characteristics percentage Shares Comparison, RDA (left) and Alberta, 2011 11% 11% 25% 25% 40% 41% 24% 23% 0 to 19 yrs 20 to 34 yrs 45 to 64 yrs 65+ yrs 0 to 19 yrs 20 to 34 yrs 45 to 64 yrs 65+ yrs Source: Statistics Canada. (2012). Red Deer County Economic Development Strategy Page 5 In 2011, 64 per cent of the total population was in the 20 to 64 age characteristics. The area has a higher share of the population with a trade certificate and with college diplomas (34.4 per cent) than generally seen at the provincial level (29.4 per cent). Conversely, only 12.5 per cent of the area’s population has a university degree or above, versus the provincial level at 20.9 per cent. Finally, area labour consists of 77,960 individuals, with the goods producing sector making up 29.2 per cent of this labour force. This is noticeably higher than the 25.5 per cent of the labour force in the goods producing sector generally observed for the province. In the Red Deer Area, the goods producing sector is dominated by three sectors: . construction (9.5 per cent); . oil and gas (9.3 per cent); . manufacturing (7.1 per cent). The service producing sector is led by retail trade (12.6 per cent), health care and social assistance (11.1 per cent), and accommodation and food services (6.5 per cent). Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats An overview of the area’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) is shown in Figure 2 below. The strengths derive from land and transportation infrastructure that have attracted development and economic activity to major growth nodes like Gasoline Alley. This is complemented by affordability, competitive business costs and overall Quality of Life factors. Weaknesses include water infrastructure and supply (which may limit development of some business opportunities in areas of the County), the lack of awareness of the RDA as an investment destination, the perception of distances to major centres and the reliance of the current economic base on commodity production, specifically energy. Figure 2: Overview of Red Deer County Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats Strengths Weaknesses Land Access to water Transportation services Awareness of Red Deer Gasoline Alley Reliance on commodities Costs of living, business Perception of distances Quality of Life Opportunities Threats Young demographic Loss of land to cities Entrepreneurial spirit Provincial economy Airport Labour gaps Tourism Energy dependency Agriculture Page 6 Red Deer County Economic Development Strategy Red Deer County has some exceptional opportunities for economic development through strategic assets like its relatively young resident population, the airport, its robust agricultural sector, tourism, commercial centres and value added activities. At the same time, it is necessary to be aware of on-going threats, including continued loss of residential and industrial tax base, potential for prolonged weakness in the energy sector and the overall provincial economy, and labour gaps or lack of qualified workers for specific job categories—especially in knowledge sectors. Overview of Economic Sectors The economic base of the area shows some signs of diversification, with relative