CHESTERMERE – Mayor Patricia Matthews spoke at the Chestermere Chamber Of Commerce Breakfast Thursday February 28th to a small assembly of 34 business owners in Chestermere and spoke of some of the reasons why Chestermere is a good place to do business. In the 2012 Town Survey the residents expressed that one of their desires was to have more local shopping and restaurants; this in turn would encourage money to stay within the town.
So the big question is what is the incentive for businesses to set up shop in Chestermere? The Town has been proactive in this area with an aggressive campaign to promote Chestermere not only regionally, but even stateside. There is a television program called Today in America with host Terry Bradshaw, who is a former NFL Quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. His TV segment “Hidden Gems” focuses on what people are doing to make a difference in Canada and the USA. The Town of Chestermere was recently featured in a 5 minute segment that will be shown on 33 different networks thus generating a lot of attention to our great little town.
You may not be aware that there is no business tax in Chestermere which one would think is a significant draw for many businesses. The proximity to Calgary is yet another value added carrot working for us and an International airport just minutes away. The building planning and permit process has been made easier and will let future business owners know that this is a great place to open your business. “Town Council has made business our number one priority in development” explains Matthews.
Do you think the new Trinity Mall opening up on 17 Avenue and 84 Street SE will damage the Chestermere economy? Matthew explains that “There will always be Wal-Mart shoppers whether it’s located at that mall or elsewhere in Calgary but anything you can buy at Wal-Mart you can buy here in Chestermere”. Mayor Matthews said “There is potential for both positive and negative repercussions, but that the town is looking at it as a positive and will work to attract people that visit the shopping centre to drive a few more minutes down the road to visit Chestermere”.
“We would really like to see a hardware store in town however”.
Mayor Matthews is involved with the Calgary Region Partnership (CRP) which is a cooperative between 15 urban municipalities in the greater Calgary area that deals with regional growth and planning issues. The Mayors of other towns all have the wonderful opinion of Chestermere acknowledging that our town centre is simply awesome. They may even be a little envious and have commented on how well it’s laid out.
The town recently hired Dr. Randy Patrick as Chief Administrative Officer and are in the final stages of hiring an “Enterprise Facilitator”. The job of the Enterprise Facilitator will be much like that of an Economic Development Officer, but it is the town’s goal to have the new Enterprise Facilitator focus on helping existing businesses be successful rather than attracting new business, which will still remain part of their portfolio.
The growth in our town is consistent and will likely continue to grow. Since 2006 the Town of Chestermere has grown by 65% and the growth continues to outpace most other communities. In 2009, more land was annexed to the Town and 2,200 acres have been set aside for future commercial and industrial growth. Mayor Matthews said that any plans that are made now are made with a population of 22,000 in mind. The Town of Chestermere is far from being done and will continue to grow for many years, which is easy to see by the number of homes and businesses being built.
I encourage you to check out this enlightening video of the Today In America “Hidden Gems” series. Go to the Chestermere, AB – Official Website – Chestermere’s Potential www.chestermere.ca/Index.aspx?NID=427 as well as this website to see the Chestermere Community Profile at http://www.chestermere.ca/DocumentCenter/View/917 .
The Mayor’s presentation was very informative and appreciated by those in attendance. Chestermere is a good place to do business and will continue to be well in to the future.
