The Heartland area is being marketed
to industrial companies.
want to keep a close eye on them. But in
terms of actual impact, we won’t know
until we see the broad scope of things.”
Public works initiatives will be
required in the AIHA region as development occurs, but it’s not something
that Sheasgreen is spending much time
fretting about. “In terms of housing,
we have increased levels of developers
and builders bringing their product
here—we’re experiencing our fair share
of growth. Will there be more jobs?
Yes. Will there be more secondary support services? Yes. There could potentially be some benefit for Fort
Saskatchewan here, and it’s something
we’re still getting a handle on.”
Fort Saskatchewan and the other
municipalities in the AIHA region recognize that there could be “a very
successful interface between industry
and communities through appropriate land use planning, facilitating
infrastructure, and providing jobs
locally,” Wall says. “It was about
generating cash flow and creating
wealth.”
When the municipalities first came
together in the late 1990s to form the
partnerships that eventually became the
AIHA, their aim was to attract large
industrial manufacturing business that
wasn’t necessarily tied to the hydrocarbon
and oil and gas business.
“We marketed the area generically,”
Wall says. “Over time, we found a specific niche and the opportunity of value-adding to the oilsands industry.”
The agreement for the association
came together in 1998, and the association formed in the spring of 1999. Wall
was part of the steering committee that
created the association, and was eventually chosen to run it.
“We established our business plan
around eco-industrial development,
which is development that focuses on
economics, environmental concerns, and
the community,” Wall says.
It wasn’t until 2001 that the AIHA
focused on value-adding to the oilsands
industry.
“It was a dog-and-pony show up until
the first announcement from BA Energy
in 2004,” Wall says. “That was the first
independent oilsands-related announcement.” After that, the announcements
started tumbling in.
“Right now, we’re focusing on an
eco-industrial master plan,” Wall says.
The master plan includes further
organization and efficiencies in infrastructure, further examining process-integration opportunities and assessing
environmental-management concerns.
“We want to be good custodians of the
environment. There are social and economic benefits to the plan, too,” Wall
explains.
The feeding grounds for industry
stretch beyond the AIHA region, into
surrounding areas like Leduc and
Nisku, Alberta.
“Development permits here almost
tripled between 2004 and 2005,” says
Stefanie Schulz, business attractions manager for the Leduc–Nisku Economic
Development Authority (EDA). Like the
AIHA, the EDA includes surrounding
Alberta communities too—Beaumont,
Devon, New Sarepta, and Thorsby.
