This summer when the Villeneuve Airport hosts the Edmonton Air Show, the St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce will be working to ensure it is more than a quick flyby for city businesses.
This summer when the Villeneuve Airport hosts the Edmonton Air Show, the St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce will be working to ensure it is more than a quick flyby for city businesses.
Aside from being actively involved in promoting the event, the chamber plans to showcase city businesses during the show. That's a smart move considering some 25,000 people are expected to flock to the spectacle in this first year. With a goal of 50,000 spectators in later years, the air show could provide some increased economic stimulus during the summer.
Lynda Moffat, chamber CEO and president, highlighted the potential of the small airport on the northwest outskirts of town in terms of promoting St. Albert as an economic booster when she presented the chamber's year-end report last week.
With some push from the chamber's now disbanded Villeneuve Regional Task Force, the airport has made substantial improvements over the past few years. Extension of the runway to accommodate larger planes, installation of an instrument landing system and staffing from Canada Border Services Agency means the airport now has the tools and infrastructure it needs to be an economic hub for the region. Anything from international shipping and receiving to passenger service could potentially be accommodated.
Add in a direct route between the airport and the city and St. Albert would be wise to find more ways to capitalize on the facility's economic potential to help boost business. At the top of the list would be to find solutions to the potential closure of Villeneuve Road that would satisfy residents in the area but not diminish the accessibility to the airport.
Aside from the airport, Moffat also focused on the people element of generating and stabilizing business in St. Albert. She pointed to events such as the St. Albert Farmers' Market as an example. The impressive display of everything from handicrafts to fresh produce brings throngs of people downtown every Saturday throughout the summer. She also said the chamber is looking at ways to attract crowds during the air show to the city.
While special events can help boost customers, businesses rely on a regular client base to survive, a fact Moffat realizes. To that end, the chamber is right to be promoting development in the city that will ensure not only that St. Albert attracts more residents to shop and do business in the city, but keeps them once they arrive. Encouraging more residential development downtown is key to that goal. The city needs to quit batting around the ping-pong ball that has become Amacon and allow the company to continue its development on the Grandin mall site. Let's hope that today's byelection brings a new councillor to the table who shares this vision.
This summer's air show could be the taking off point for many future opportunities as Villeneuve Airport builds out and our business community and entrepreneurs would be smart to try to land them.
