Emily Plihal
Local Journalism
Initiative Reporter
Smoky River Regional Economic Development (SRRED) has received a grant to help with the creation of an extensive campaign to help promote the region.
SRRED executive director Diane Chiasson says she has successfully applied and received the Northern and Regional Economic Development (NRED) program to help create a series of promotional items to attract new people and businesses to the region.
“We received this as a two-year long grant for promotion of the region,” explains Chiasson.
“We will build a brand-new website with promotional videos and highlights of all the different municipalities in the region.”
The project will focus on implementing two key regional strategies, according to Chiasson, including Seeds of Success: Sowing the Future of Rural Development and Tourism, Citizen Attraction, and Inbound Investment Marketing and Promotional Plan.
Chiasson and the Smoky River Region will bring these strategies to fruition through collaborating, fostering innovation, and growth.
“We will have a relocation guide prepared that will be put on the website with all the information about the region, all the services available including things like health care facilities,” Chiasson explains.
“We will also have a concierge service, if people are moving here and need to phone someone for assistance or information about the region, they can call to get information.”
The objectives of the project and the grant is to increase regional visibility and brand recognition, attract new residents and support relocation, drive inbound investment, boost tourism and economic activity, enhancement investment readiness, and demonstrate collaborative success through implementation.
The Smoky River Region is a big agricultural region, but the two other main employers in the region are health care and schools. Health care is always looking to bring professionals in to fill vacant positions.
“We have hired Lochaven Consultants to develop an investment package,” says Chiasson.
“This will include information on which industries are required here and how to invest in them in our region. This will be a big project and was just started in April. It will run two years.”
Key activities Lochaven will undertake include enhancing regional presence and branding through the community profile, relocation guide, promotional videos and paid social media campaigns. They will also be establishing the concierge program to provide one-on-one support to prospective citizens and investors.
They will assist SRRED in creating a regional brand, revamping the website, creating sector profiles, conducting investment readiness studies, and creating an inventory of investment opportunities.
“They were here for the agricultural trade show (in March) and visited business owners in the region to inquire about what they felt was missing in the region,” Chiasson explains.
“This was in part to help start the labour market analysis completed by Lochaven to learn what our labour market shortages are. What is the current situation, what will it be in five years? Job positions will likely change, so can we anticipate those changes?”
Chiasson says there are a number of projects that have readied the Smoky River Region for economic growth, including the installation of fiber optic internet in Girouxville, Falher, Donnelly, and McLennan, and the Smoky Hemp Decortication Ltd. Plant that they are hoping will attract a hemp cluster of businesses to manufacture products in the area.
“Long term benefits of NRED is to attract more families, potential to attract more services, and help to keep current businesses, schools, hospitals and other services viable,” Chiasson concludes.