St. Albert was named seventh best community in Alberta for business by one of the province’s top business magazines.
Alberta Venture released its annual ranking on Monday. St. Albert made the top 10, as did Sturgeon County, which placed eighth.
Mayor Nolan Crouse was pleased by the recognition.
“This reinforces that our community from an economic development point of view is doing good things,” he said.
This is the first time in three years that Venture has actually ranked communities.
Editor Michael Ganley explained that not all municipalities have the resources to collect accurate population data, such as education rates and median household incomes, making comparisons between them difficult.
The magazine felt uncomfortable basing the last two lists on 2011 census data, he said, choosing instead to celebrate the unique features of Alberta’s top communities for business.
This year’s ranking does a bit of the same, celebrating “stability, perseverance and judicious ambition” amid a tough economic climate.
Although it took a look at population growth rate, residential and non-residential tax rates and median home prices, the ranking truly highlights “bright spots amid the darkness” – communities that remind us “our economy is not the sum of its oil woes.”
Recognized in the past for its well-educated population, high median household income (translating to buying power) and small-town charm, St. Albert muscled its way up the list with its “impressively” low unemployment rate and entrepreneurial spirit.
Last year, the city handed out 50 more commercial and industrial business licenses and 25 more home-based business licences compared to the same time last year (May 2014 to May 2015), and, as highlighted in the 2015 State of the Economy report, the downturn seems not to have an effect on investment into the city.
Construction so far this year has reached $136 million.
“The make-up of our community makes us less reliant on oil and gas,” said Guy Boston, executive director of St. Albert’s economic development department.
The last time Venture ranked municipalities, St. Albert placed 16th (Sturgeon County followed closely at 17th). Of course that was in 2013, in the midst of Alberta’s oil boom, so Fort McMurray topped the list with its province-leading population growth (15 per cent in 2012-13), exorbitant land prices ($1.4 million per acre of serviced land) and the prediction that production would ramp up to as much as 5.2 million barrels per day by 2030 meaning tens of billions of dollars’ worth of investment in the region over the coming decade.
Since then, Alberta’s oil kingpin has fallen from grace. Lower commodity prices have resulted in thousands of job losses and the drying up of local pocket change, as well as foreign investment.
It is currently ranked 17th – dethroned by the capital city.
Though Edmonton’s tax rates are “barely” competitive and its population growth is anything but “explosive” (the same can be said of St. Albert), the city boasts one of Alberta’s lowest unemployment rates at 7.0, steady real estate prices and a well-timed construction boom.
Sturgeon County was recognized for the surge of industrial growth, particularly in the Industrial Heartland area. Mayor Tom Flynn says that trend is likely to continue thanks to the province’s Petrochemical Diversification Program.
It was announced Monday that the $500 million royalty incentive program received 16 applications (double what the province expected). At least three of these are for projects in the Heartland.
“Those are still very profitable businesses, maybe even more so during the downturn of oil and gas,” said Flynn.
St. Albert and Sturgeon County were beat out by Edmonton, Lethbridge, Leduc, Grande Prairie, Cochrane and Calgary, and were tailed by Fort Saskatchewan (another Heartland community) and Rocky View County.
