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Edmonton Companies News & Discussion

One notable exception to this is Edmonton International Airport - even though it is not in Edmonton. Seems to be attracting some good industry there. Does Edmonton collect any tax dollars from the airport and all the business operations that have set up there?
 
TAS said:
One notable exception to this is Edmonton International Airport - even though it is not in Edmonton. Seems to be attracting some good industry there. Does Edmonton collect any tax dollars from the airport and all the business operations that have set up there?
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I do not believe the City collects tax revenue, as airports in Canada do not have to pay property tax given that they are technically Federal land. I think there is some 'tax agreement' with Leduc County, where the County gets some share of 'taxes' or 'revenue' from development at EIA (but I may be completely off on that). The lack of property taxes is definitely a huge carrot for development at EIA, which is why they've been able to attract so much development over the past 10 years.
 
The_Cat said:
Letter to the Editor: https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion...ters-edmonton-lags-in-attracting-big-business
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I work in a role and industry very relevant and close to the corporate decision making, including relocations and investments. I can confidently say from my work experience and knowledge that Edmonton is a serious laggard due to its own doing. And before anyone says Edmonton will never compete with Calgary because of the mountains or whatever justification there may be, I can assure you that is not the case. That may be 1 factor out of a criteria of 100 with most criteria being financial or relationship based, but quite simply Edmonton does an extremely poor job of marketing, branding and building relationships to entice companies to choose Edmonton first. This has been in place for decades and does not look to be changing with current council and the electoral candidates.
 
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CaptainBL said:
I work in a role and industry very relevant and close to the corporate decision making, including relocations and investments. I can confidently say from my work experience and knowledge that Edmonton is a serious laggard due to its own doing. And before anyone says Edmonton will never compete with Calgary because of the mountains or whatever justification there may be, I can assure you that is not the case. That may be 1 factor out of a criteria of 100 with most criteria being financial or relationship based, but quite simply Edmonton does an extremely poor job of marketing, branding and building relationships to entice companies to choose Edmonton first. This has been in place for decades and does not look to be changing with current council and the electoral candidates.
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Do you think groups like Edmonton Global and Innovate Edmonton will help improve our standing over the medium and long terms?
 
Avenuer said:
Do you think groups like Edmonton Global and Innovate Edmonton will help improve our standing over the medium and long terms?
Click to expand...

Great question but I don't think there is a yes or no answer. The idea to have a united group such as Edmonton Global market one voice to attract business to Edmonton is the right idea. But are the right execution, marketing and relationships there to see tangible results through increased jobs and investment? I am not confident of that yet as I don't think there have been any tangible results to date. Supposedly, Edmonton has a strong tech sector, but so far I have not seen any large tech companies select Edmonton as their new home base, aside from Google Deep Mind in 2017, which may have a presence of about 10 people (my estimate). In February, mCloud Technologies relocated their head office from Vancouver to Calgary, this month Infosys announced their intentions to move 500 jobs to Calgary. Last year Wattapad opened its second office outside of Toronto in Halifax but was considering Calgary. So far, the idea of an Edmonton Global is good but it does not seem to be translating into much.

There are many other cities that attract businesses all the time, like Austin Texas, which has been very successful recently despite being flanked by larger more corporate Dallas and Houston. If you are interested, here is a case study for why IBM selected Halifax and shockingly, the mountains isn't a reason. https://www.novascotiabusiness.com/case-stories/ibm-opposite-of-obvious

At the end of the day, in my opinion, these problems today come right from the top - city council and mayoral leadership attitudes. While Jan Reimer and co in the 90s were busy fighting with corporations, Calgary city council rolled out the welcome mat with one claiming that the best advertising the City of Calgary could have is the City of Edmonton. To this day, we have not seen a city council mandate high priority developing a competent and attractive strategy to compete with cities around the globe for investment. Until this city makes it a priority to execute a strong business development case by building relationships, pitching to growing companies or newly publicly traded companies, offering lifestyle packages, promoting that Edmonton is in fact close to the mountains too (just because Calgary is closer, doesn't mean Edmonton is not close contrary to popular opinion), inviting companies to tour our facilities, leveraging Edmonton companies we do have here to work with their clients (Can the city leverage client relationships with CWB, for example?) and offering incentives (yes the scary word people automatically think are tax breaks), then this city will continue to be stuck in reverse focusing on raising or lowering speed limits with a small town attitude.
 
^ great points. At times I have also felt we have a provincial government and people in key roles with more of a calgary centric view, but that may not be fair.

Here is some info on how Edmonton tech companies did in attracting venture capital in 2020.

We were 6th in Canada in terms of number of companies attracting investment and total dollars. In 2019 we were not in top 10 in Canada. I think Jobber was our best performer in this regard.

Venture Capital Investment into Alberta Technology Companies Doubles in 2020

/CNW/ - Alberta Enterprise today highlighted findings of the 2020 Year in Review released by the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA)...
www.newswire.ca www.newswire.ca


20210325_163714.jpg
 
Remember when Amazon announced they were looking for a place for their HQ2? Calgary did a huge marketing campaign to lure Amazon and was so aggressive showing that their city would be the best place to set up the office. On the other hand, Edmonton didn't even both to show the public what the proposal was like. Like whoever it is in charge of these kind of thins needs to do a better job and promote our city better. I feel like it's that Edmonton attitude of "it's good enough" but it's not.
 
U of A and Telus partner to build 5G 'Living Lab'

Tuesday, March 30, 2021
By Emily Rendell-Watson

The University of Alberta and Telus are teaming up over the next five years to create a 5G “Living Lab” with the aim to invest in new research and technology with commercial applications, beginning with precision agriculture and autonomous vehicle systems.

Telus will invest $15 million in the project to provide the 5G technology required to boost the U of A's "innovation and commercialization capacity."

“This investment in 5G advanced infrastructure will not only stimulate economic growth, diversification and innovation in Canada, but it will transform the Alberta ecosystem for technology and innovation,” said U of A president Bill Flanagan. “This is the sort of diversification opportunity that provincial, education and business leaders are pushing for in order to position Alberta to compete globally.

edmonton.taproot.news

U of A and Telus partner to build 5G 'Living Lab'

The University of Alberta and Telus are teaming up over the next five years to create a 5G “Living Lab” with the aim to invest in new research and technology with commercial applications.
edmonton.taproot.news edmonton.taproot.news
 
CaptainBL said:
Great question but I don't think there is a yes or no answer. The idea to have a united group such as Edmonton Global market one voice to attract business to Edmonton is the right idea. But are the right execution, marketing and relationships there to see tangible results through increased jobs and investment? I am not confident of that yet as I don't think there have been any tangible results to date. Supposedly, Edmonton has a strong tech sector, but so far I have not seen any large tech companies select Edmonton as their new home base, aside from Google Deep Mind in 2017, which may have a presence of about 10 people (my estimate). In February, mCloud Technologies relocated their head office from Vancouver to Calgary, this month Infosys announced their intentions to move 500 jobs to Calgary. Last year Wattapad opened its second office outside of Toronto in Halifax but was considering Calgary. So far, the idea of an Edmonton Global is good but it does not seem to be translating into much.

There are many other cities that attract businesses all the time, like Austin Texas, which has been very successful recently despite being flanked by larger more corporate Dallas and Houston. If you are interested, here is a case study for why IBM selected Halifax and shockingly, the mountains isn't a reason. https://www.novascotiabusiness.com/case-stories/ibm-opposite-of-obvious

At the end of the day, in my opinion, these problems today come right from the top - city council and mayoral leadership attitudes. While Jan Reimer and co in the 90s were busy fighting with corporations, Calgary city council rolled out the welcome mat with one claiming that the best advertising the City of Calgary could have is the City of Edmonton. To this day, we have not seen a city council mandate high priority developing a competent and attractive strategy to compete with cities around the globe for investment. Until this city makes it a priority to execute a strong business development case by building relationships, pitching to growing companies or newly publicly traded companies, offering lifestyle packages, promoting that Edmonton is in fact close to the mountains too (just because Calgary is closer, doesn't mean Edmonton is not close contrary to popular opinion), inviting companies to tour our facilities, leveraging Edmonton companies we do have here to work with their clients (Can the city leverage client relationships with CWB, for example?) and offering incentives (yes the scary word people automatically think are tax breaks), then this city will continue to be stuck in reverse focusing on raising or lowering speed limits with a small town attitude.
Click to expand...
www.newswire.ca

Endeavor, world's leading community of high-impact entrepreneurs, launches in Canada, selects Calgary for its national office

/CNW/ - The Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund (OCIF), Western Economic Diversification Canada, and a founding Board comprised of successful entrepreneurs and...
www.newswire.ca www.newswire.ca

Add another tech outfit launching in Canada. Interesting to note that a lot of the language in the press releases whether its Infosys or now Endeavor, speak of Alberta and Calgary as if they are synonymous. It reiterates my point that Edmonton is flat out just not considered with these decisions to open offices or expand global presence. I just want to scream at council "Open your eyes!" at these things. Whether others feel the same as I, these things continue to frustrate me and will do until the end of time or someone figures this out.
 
I think the sad thing for Edmionton is that many employees are public service, whether it's government, universities, teachers, nurses or other essential workers. What percentage of people in Alberta favour public service spending? Alberta has many outstanding post-secondary institutions, including the U of A, MacEwan, NAIT and others. How interested is the government and the workforce interested in training our future workforce. This is Edmonton's strength, even if it doesn't translate into workforce.
 
It sounds like the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund may have been a major reason as to while Endeavor decided to open in Calgary (financial incentives are a great benefit after all). I do not believe the City of Edmonton has a similar investment attraction vehicle, so perhaps starting a fund like that would help us attract more companies?
 
I do not know if the City of Edmonton has an investment attraction vehicle, if there is a business development group that pitches to and lobbies companies, if Iveson himself lobbies companies as much as it has been written Nenshi does, if there is any strategy whatsoever or if this is something even on the city's radar. But what I can conclude is that it is either not working or it is nonexistent just by given the sheer lack of results that it is producing.
 
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