Drumheller has an entrepreneurial spirit, with small and medium businesses not only surviving, but thriving, never missing an opportunity to grow.
Some of these opportunities may be outside the valley, the province, or even the country.
Next Thursday, May 2, the Honourable Cal Dallas, Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations will be in Drumheller to discuss the potential of looking beyond the valley walls for opportunity.
“It is an opportunity to discuss what we do in International and Intergovernmental Relations and how that can be directly positive for businesses throughout Alberta, to talk a little bit about these opportunities to engage internationally, and what export can do for a business and the community,” Dallas told inSide Drumheller.
International opportunities, he says, come in a variety of ways beyond simply exporting a product. There are myriad ways to build international relationships, including through tourism.
The Honourable Cal Dallas…
Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations
“We are going to have people along who have specific tourism expertise, we are going to have agricultural expertise,” said Dallas. “We have six international offices in Asia. These offices are working to strike relationships, surface opportunities, and analyse the market and be able to interact directly with businesses throughout Alberta.”
International relationship can help unlock business potential.
“Your region is achieving great things on the tourism side, but it also has enormous untapped potential. We are able to talk about what some of that looks like, from Asia, or Europe, he said. “I know there will be lots of agricultural related interest from this region and my sense is there are some businesses that are developing and manufacturing some very unique products that probably have value elsewhere in the world, and what these opportunities look like.”
It has been a year since the election and Drumheller, despite not having an MLA as part of the governing party, is seeing a number of ministers coming through the valley. Finance Minster Doug Horner was in Drumheller before the budget came down, and Culture Minister Heather Klimchuk was through last week.
“That is what we were elected to do, govern for all Albertans. What you are seeing is our commitment,” said Dallas. “We are going around the province and working really hard. We know the success of these communities is based on a lot of factors, but seeing small business succeed is critical to the sustainability of our communities.”
Manager of the Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce Heather Bitz says Drumheller was selected to host one of 10 of these conversations throughout the province.
“It is definitely going to be interesting,” said Bitz. “We look at it as a positive opportunity to bring something else to our community and an opportunity for business owners to get involved and have a conversation with the minister.”
The meeting is slated for Thursday, May 2 from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. at the Badlands Community Facility.
Bitz asks those interested in attending to RSVP by email to h.bitz@drumhellerchamber.com or call 403-823-8100.
