Can cities play a major role in serving the agriculture industry? Calgary, Alta. has the potential to become a major agricultural hub —like St. Louis, Missouri, or Salinas, California — but not without its own set of challenges.
Our guest today on RealAg LIVE! is Mary Moran, president and CEO of Calgary Economic Development.
RealAg LIVE! streams every weekday at 3 pm E on Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter!
SUMMARY
- Major study completed by the organization recently
- How to support the local community and can Calgary be an agricultural hub?
- Calgary Stampede only lasts 10 days
- Has the city ignored ag, and focused too much on oil and gas?
- The opportunities are pretty endless
- SMART Ag corridor, supercluster, Olds College, they gave it a shot
- There’s real opportunity is in embracing advanced technology across all industries
- Build it and they will come?
- The unused downtown offices should be filled again
- City versus city in attracting businesses
- Ag Tech doesn’t even have Calgary on their radar — they also don’t quite know where it is, so there’s that
- What’s the focus? Fill the high-rises downtown or fill the processing spaces that are on the outskirts? Both and it’s about diversification
- Incentives for start-ups? “A burgeoning tech eco-system”
- The SmartFarm at Olds College is an asset because then that ag tech can be tested out there
- Can easily align with the direction the federal government is going, leveraging those dollars
- It’s a real brain map of how many subsectors there are in agriculture, lots of hurdles
- Mary usually learns “five things before noon” in her role
- What about producing food within city limits? Vertical farming is a tangible solution.
- Leave no stone unturned
- Encouraging companies to create their hubs in Calgary, and create job opportunities in addition to the hub
- Eight per cent corporate tax rate…
- Staying connected to what’s happening on the primary side. An ag roundtable
- Aerospace, financial services, creative industries (film and television), life sciences
- How to judge success? Jobs, diverse economy
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