Town planners are working diligently to drive growth in Ponoka and they are doing that with concrete goals.
Stephen Novak, economic development officer for the Town of Ponoka, told members of the Ponoka and District Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, Dec. 16 during a luncheon that he drafted an economic development strategy that will help guide the town in the future.
“We’re looking at areas like small business development and town development,” said Novak of some of his goals.
Other areas such as the Ponoka Industrial Airport and finding ways to shop local are also part of the strategies outlined in the document.
“We’ll be going to the chamber and local businesses to garner support,” said Novak.
He says he’s excited to take on this challenge because he sees many people are eager to move forward and see growth in town. He is looking for feedback from business owners and residents for their ideas.
“That will give us hard data moving forward with our policy,” said Novak.
Coun. Loanna Gulka added that town council supports these initiatives because that is one of its goals over the next three years. “This council is very focused on economic development.”
“There’s still a desperate need to look at the downtown,” she added.
Novak said ads in Alberta Venture magazine have been purchased to help get the name of Ponoka out to the province and to developers. He says there is a committee whose sole focus is on downtown revitalization.
Town council approved Novak’s strategy document during their regular meeting later that day.