True growth potential for the Town of Athabasca is in qualitative growth, not simply quantitative growth, according to Athabasca University researcher Mike Gismondi.
Gismondi and Noel Major of Servus Credit Union put their heads together earlier this year and came up with the idea of starting the Athabasca Opportunity Development Cooperative, “with hopes of giving people a way of investing their savings in businesses in their own community,” according to Gismondi.
Gismondi briefly outlined the investment cooperative and its potential community benefits at the Athabasca District Chamber of Commerce Business Awards Gala Oct. 17.
“I’ve consistently argued that the word ‘growth’ is an empty word,” said Gismondi. “You can grow qualitatively or quantitatively; and so … we can improve the quality of the town, and that’s a form of growth.”
Ten local leaders including business people — whose cooperative status is expected to be formalized this month — believe what the Athabasca economy needs is not just new business development, but also fresh ideas to fill in market demand and generate innovation.
The cooperative will invite proposals for new business development. A couple of the best business ideas will be selected and investment funds will be raised to help kick-start the new business.
“Most us are making nothing on our RRSP money, so we thought, ‘Oh, well maybe investing in our own community would give us … a blended return on investment,’” said Gismondi, explaining that investors could get some money back while the community also benefits from some new services or businesses.
“We’ve organized ourselves as a group of people who will be inviting local entrepreneurs and local business people to make proposals for investment,” said Gismondi.
Gismondi said the cooperative welcomes proposals from “anyone who is entrepreneurial (in the town and surrounding region) — they could be existing business people, or people who want to move into a business, or want to start a new business,” he said.
The Athabasca Opportunity Development Cooperative will be hosting an information session on Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex, but the cooperative is currently only looking for one or two business ideas to kick off the project.
Cooperative membership fees and other finer details will be ironed out by that time.
People can come to the information session to learn more about the cooperative and investing in a local business opportunity. Gismondi said the cooperative would like to hear what people think are the types of businesses that would strengthen the local economy.
“(The cooperative is) an opportunity to take our local capital and keep it in our community, and grow the community,” said Major. “It’s a huge opportunity.”
Once the cooperative’s first project is identified, the cooperative will approach the community again through a public meeting, at which time people will have a chance to invest in the project.
The cooperative will also help existing businesses by providing advice on what Major called “succession planning,” or the need for small businesses to continue into the future (for example, if owners are retiring but still want their business to continue).
“This is another tool that will be available to them to allow this to happen, because most guys don’t have a plan on how they’re going to (execute an exit strategy),” said Major.
Gismondi first learned about local investment cooperatives from the Alberta Community and Cooperative Association (ACCA).
The ACCA received a grant from the Rural Alberta Development Fund to help spread cooperative development opportunities in communities.
Gismondi became acquainted with ACCA staff members Paul Cabaj and Dan Ohler, for whom he was doing research that included speaking to community leaders, local investors, and new business owners throughout Alberta and Nova Scotia to gather feedback and learn how they succeeded with their own development cooperatives.
Cabaj and Ohler came to speak about development cooperative opportunities to the Athabasca Rotary Club this past spring, which Gismondi and Major are members of.
Then Gismondi, Major and at least half a dozen business leaders in the Athabasca area, including local optometrist Wally Cummings and Athabasca District Chamber of Commerce President Penny Semashkewich, decided to pursue the idea.
“I saw how this was successful in other small, rural communities, and we thought this could work in our town,” said Gismondi, who recognized flourishing community cooperatives in Sangudo, Falher and Crowsnest Pass as well as in various communities in Nova Scotia.
Sangudo was one of the earliest cooperatives coordinated by the ACCA (established in May 2010).
Gismondi said the 10 Athabasca cooperative members have all done community development work or community business growth work over the years, and they are looking for a new idea or two to spark business innovation in the Athabasca area.
“We got together because we thought there was an opportunity here for a new innovation, a new idea,” said Gismondi.
