The southern part of the province is generally protected from the boom and bust of the oil industry. Right now, as the more oil-dependent areas continue to rebound from the recession, southern Alberta is seeing a lot of growth.
In fact, Lethbridge has become a major hub for big business in recent years.
Just last September, Cavendish Farms announced the opening of a $360-million frozen potato processing plant, providing 400 full-time jobs.
Fifty-First Parallel also announced a 180,000-square-foot cannabis greenhouse.
And it’s not only new companies. In 2016, Richardsons announced a $120-million upgrade to its canola plant, employing 275 people.
CEO of Economic Devlopment Lethbridge, Trevor Lewington, says upgrading is becoming a trend.
“Although we have lots of companies looking at Lethbridge, the companies that are already here are sort of doubling down.
“They’re making major investments to make sure that their operations can continue to grow and expand as well.”
Another southern Alberta city getting a lot of attention is Medicine Hat.
In the past month, Hut 8 and Aurora Cannabis announced major projects.
Hut 8’s $100-million bitcoin mining operation will create 100 temporary jobs and 42 permanent positions.
However, Aurora Cannabis takes the prize, building a high-tech cannabis facility the size of 21 football fields.
The investments in Medicine Hat are largely attributed to the city’s new Unit-16 power plant.
The plant allow the city to work with companies and provide competitive deals on power.
However, many factors are involved in investors’ decisions to invest in Lethbridge.
“We have a very talented workforce with two post-secondary institutions here,” Lewington said.
“More and more, as technology creeps into the workplace, it’s a big advantage as companies are looking for where can they go where there’s skilled labour and Lethbridge is one of those markets.”
Mayor Chris Spearman added that Lethbridge’s transportation is an advantage.
“We’re at the junction of the highways, we have rail service through Lethbridge and now we’re moving forward with investment in the airport to make sure that products can get from Lethbridge to places around the world,” he said.
On top of that, Lethbridge has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the province and has very a consistent GDP, usually around 1.8 per cent.
Although Spearman can’t provide specifics, he says several investors are on the city’s radar at any given moment.
Comments