WESTLOCK — The Town of Westlock, Westlock County and the Village of Clyde are now officially ready to promote the Westlock Economic Region to the world.
Following a marketing and branding project led by the Westlock Regional Economic and Development Action Committee (WREDAC), the official launch of the Westlock Economic Region (WER) took place April 26, with a ribbon cutting ceremony and dignitaries, special guests and council and staff from the three municipalities in attendance.
Athabasca-Barrhead-Westlock MLA Glenn van Dijken was also on hand for the event, as were Invest Alberta and Invest Canada, whose role it is to promote and pitch Alberta and Canada to international markets and investors.
“The three municipalities have been working together for about five years, doing economic development together as a region,” said Town of Westlock director of planning and development, Danielle Pougher. “This is the culmination. We went through a variety of smaller projects to get to this stage, so now we’re officially united as the Westlock Economic Region and ready to promote ourselves externally as well.
“It’s a very exciting milestone.”
The three municipalities have worked together to elevate the Westlock region and embrace new opportunities and projects, said Pougher, including the attraction of economic opportunities and skilled workers to the area. The region has accomplished this through the WREDAC, that is made up of elected officials and administrative staff from the three municipalities. They’ve been the primary group that’s been working on several regional economic development initiatives and part of that work, she noted, involved creating a website www.investwer.com
The new brand highlights the region as an attractive investment destination and helps strengthen the relationship between regional partners. It also positions the region as the “heart and hub of Alberta agriculture.”
Pougher said one of the first projects the committee worked on included identifying all existing opportunities in the region as well as the potential for growth.
“That’s everything from tourism, to the airport, to expanding agriculture. We hired a consultant to do a branding and marketing project for us, which came up with our WER brand,” explained Pougher, noting they narrowed the focus to start to the “heart and hub of Alberta agriculture.”
“Our agricultural base here is very strong,” she added. “All the way from the producers in Westlock County to all the related service industries that we have here in the town. So it’s a really great foundation to build off of moving forward.”
With the official launch of the Westlock Economic Region comes the next step in promoting the area to potential businesses, noted Westlock mayor Jon Kramer.
“In some ways it’s the end of the first leg of the race, because we know it was an incredible amount of hard work to get us to this point,” said Kramer. “This is also a gift to our current businesses in that this is a way to promote your product, promote your services beyond our region. …So I think we’re going to see a lot of excitement from already established businesses and also from global (businesses) as we look to attract more investment too.”
New identity, new opportunities
Town of Westlock CAO Simone Wiley also spoke about the new regional identity and the opportunities it presents for the region.
“We are committed to building strong relationships with our partners and showcasing the strengths of our region,” said Wiley. “Westlock is a hub of the region that connects urban and rural areas, and we welcome everyone to come and be a part of our growing community.”
Westlock County and Village of Clyde officials are just as thrilled to see the launch of the WER and the potential it brings to the region.
“The Westlock Economic Region brand launch is an important milestone in our efforts to promote growth and prosperity,” said Village of Clyde CAO Jaye Parrent.” We are proud to participate in this initiative, which highlights our region's strengths and opens doors to new possibilities and partnerships that will benefit our community and the region.”
Village of Clyde mayor Charis Aguirre said the launch of WER is a very significant step for the three municipalities.
“We do so many things together every single day so why not work together to build ourselves as a region,” said Aguirre. “We all have great things to offer.”
Westlock County Reeve Christine Wiese, also noted the ongoing collaboration and how the region has worked together to promote opportunities.
“We’re always looking at new ways to improve (economic development) and showcase what we have here in the Westlock region.”
Westlock County CAO Tony Kulbisky said the new regional brand reinforces the shared commitment to economic development and innovation among the three municipalities.
“Our opportunities improve when the region hunts as a pack. Attracting investments and skilled workers to one of us benefits all of us,” said Kulbisky.
