FINDING THE WAY // OIL SANDS
“THE ASSOCIATION CONDUCTS DETAILED STUDIES ON THE COMPETITIVENESS OF ALBERTA’S INDUSTRIAL HEARTLAND RELATIVE TO OTHER JURISDICTIONS, WHICH CAN SUPPORT POLICY DEVELOPMENT BY GOVERNMENTS AS WELL AS INVESTMENT DECISIONS BY THE PRIVATE SECTOR.” ~ ED GIBBONS
“It is important to note that the slowdown of Alberta’s economy has helped slow construction cost escalations. This helps boost the overall competitiveness of the region, and it will ultimately help make a stronger case for future investment,” says Gibbons. “Alberta’s Industrial Heartland Association is very active year-round in encouraging sustainable investment in the region. The Association conducts detailed studies on the competitiveness of Alberta’s Industrial Heartland relative to other jurisdictions, which can support policy development by governments as well as investment decisions by the private sector,” Gibbons concludes. Things may be thriving in the big picture, and in the Capital City, many companies that pared down to make operations as lean as possible during the downturn are gearing up for a comeback; but several challenges still remain – especially for small-to-medium business owners in Alberta. Universe Machine Corporation has provided services and products for a variety of industries, but primarily for the oilfield sector, since 1965. Ron Feigel, business development, has a bird’s eye, and starkly realistic, view of
what the tail end of the recession looks like for small-tomedium enterprises. “Oil prices are not improving as analysts predicted, investment in Alberta has declined dramatically and moved elsewhere and few, if any, new resource projects are moving forward. Many small manufacturing and service businesses in Alberta are still struggling to adjust and cope with our new Provincial and Federal Governments. Until oil prices show sustained improvement and our governments become more pro-business, it’s unlikely investment dollars will flow back into Alberta to create jobs and boost our economy,” says Feigel. “Our Alberta economy especially – and really, most of Canada’s economy – has been built on natural resources and is still reliant on them to provide our wealth and future, whether we like it or not. The reality is that we are fortunate to live in a country that is rich in numerous natural resources. To not take advantage of our resource base and to help secure the future for our next generations by utilizing these riches wisely would be utterly foolish.
ABOVE: ED GIBBONS, CHAIR, ALBERTA’S INDUSTRIAL HEARTLAND ASSOCIATION.
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JULY 2017 // BUSINESS IN EDMONTON // BUSINESSINEDMONTON.COM