The Harvest Sky Development Corporation (formerly Cactus Corrridor EDC) is wrapping up a three-year project that has put the town of Hanna and the surrounding region in a strong position for future economic growth.
The organization has for the last three years managed the Canada Coal Transition Initiative on behalf of its regional partners. This was a program administered by Prairies Canada and granted about $3.7 Million to take on projects as the community transitioned away from coal at Sheerness.
They identified the potential economic, social and socio-economic impacts on the regions and set about a plan to capitalize on opportunities for the region to remain viable into the future.
Its objectives includes economic development, which encompasses supporting existing businesses and attracting new investors, residents and visitors; economic readiness and community development.
With the project wrapping up in March of this year, Harvest Sky delivered a report on its successes.
“We have constructed a solid foundation to build on, whether it is people moving here, or industry or business looking for a place to set up, I think we are well positioned now,” said Mark Nikota, economic development manager for Harvest Sky.
They undertook a number of initiatives that include marketing the region as a place to live and work.
“A few years ago there were houses left, right and centre for sale. Now people are putting their houses up for sale and they are being bid on or selling the next day,” said Nikota. “It’s not just us, the realtors have been doing a good job getting the word out here, but I like to think some of the advertising and marketing we did to promote the community, the amenities and the affordability has hopefully played a part in it.”
Part of the project was tourism initiatives, and Harvest Sky made connections with Travel Alberta, Travel Drumheller and Travel Special Areas to promote the region.
“We helped promote the golf course and some of the fishing and hunting. On our social media advertising hunting is one of our biggest search items and hits,” he said. “We have been working with the roundhouse as far as being a bigger event draw,” he said.
The project has focused on creating a regional Agricultural hub. This includes an event centre as well other livestock offerings such as vet services, equine therapists and possibly research facilities. A report making a case for such a hub was presented and in 2022 a volunteer board was formed to pursue the vision.
Also looking towards agriculture, Harvest Sky partnered with Special Areas to conduct an analysis of current and potential irrigation systems in the area and is making headway.
For business readiness, the group undertook an Economic Development Readiness assessment of the community, looking at logistics such as utilities like water, power, and internet service, a labour force assessment, land inventory and red tape reduction.
It also took on a number of community development initiatives such as new community signage, healthy and recreational living strategies and community development and design and engineering. Part of this includes a Youngstown Solar Project a community kitchen project, where they are upgrading kitchens at the Lions Hall in Hanna and the Community Center in Youngstown to be commercial grade. This can allow small vendors access to commercial-grade facilities to produce food for retail sales.
“Next is investment attraction. Now that the foundation is laid, you go after the business and work on them as hard as you can,’ said Nikota.
“If there is a solid foundation in a good community then when an opportunity presents itself, people will step up. You can’t tell somebody to open a business, but if all the pieces are there, someone will open a business.”
