Hometown Advantage Webinar Series
Welcome to the Hometown Advantage webinar series! Each webinar in this series aims to create a space for economic development professionals to meet, share insights and challenges, and learn from their colleagues. The one-hour sessions each focus on a specific economic development challenge and are led by economic development professionals.
Besides hearing from leaders in the profession, participants have the opportunity to join breakout sessions to share their thoughts on the topic and hear from their peers. Register for one of the upcoming monthly webinars below.
Arts, Culture, and Economic Development
September 15th, 2021 12 – 1:15 pm MDT
Featuring Patricia McQuarrie – General Manager, Community Development for Camrose, AB; Chantelle Parrott, Economic Development and Marketing Officer for Beausejour Brokenhead Development Corporation; Nicole J. Lerat, RMA Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Rosthern
Hosted by Heather Hallgrimson, Business Development Lead for Co-operatives First
Art and economic development may not seem like the most natural of strategic partners. But a growing number of rural communities are turning to arts and culture as a way to attract visitors, new families, and businesses along with the economic benefits they bring with them. In this webinar, we’ll quiz three experienced economic development professionals that have leveraged arts and culture in their communities, and learn how their communities benefitted from positioning arts and culture as a hometown advantage.
Investment, funding and financing: Finding money for economic development
October 20th, 2021 12 – 1 pm MDT
Featuring: TBD
Hosted by Heather Hallgrimson, Business Development Lead for Co-operatives First
As economic developers, it may often feel like you have to beg, steal, or borrow to get the money you need to do economic development projects. In this webinar, we’ll speak with a panel of economic development professionals who’ve been through it all. Join us to learn how they manage to finance projects and the strategies they used to find the money they needed to get projects funded.
Finding Win-Wins: the when, where, and why of partnerships
November 17th, 2021 12 – 1 CST
Featuring: TBD
Hosted by Heather Hallgrimson, Business Development Lead for Co-operatives First
Partnerships can bring overworked and short-staffed economic development offices and officers a lot of value and capacity. But not all partnerships are of the same quality, and some can bring more headaches than they’re worth. Join us for an insightful discussion about when to seek out partners, what to look out for in a partnership, and why you might choose one partner over another.