Leduc County nixes further funding for CED initiative

LEDUC COUNTY -- Leduc County has ended their participation in a COVID-era regional initiative.

The Collaborative Economic Development (CED) program was launched in April of 2021 with the goal of advancing economic opportunities for Edmonton Metropolitan Region partners through projects targeting new, non-residential growth beyond individual municipal boundaries. There were thirteen participating municipalities at the program's launch, including the City of Leduc, Leduc County, Beaumont and Devon.

At Leduc County's Governance and Priorities Committee meeting this week, Council was faced with the question of whether-or-not they would accept a new funding request from the CED regional group, in order to continue their participation in the program going forward. Ultimately, it was decided that Leduc County would deny the new two-year funding request.

"One of our strategic plans is regional leadership and this definitely is an area where that doesn't occur," said Councilor Rick Smith. "We can do better in other areas." 

The CED identifies regional sites for investment using a site location tool, showing potential favourable regional locations for multi-municipal financial investment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was seen as a way to create plans for municipalities to increase investment and leverage existing resources and knowledge in new ways.

"It is -- In my opinion -- a bit of a redundancy," said County Mayor Tanni Doblanko. "I believe that if we're looking at any kind of sub-regional investment with one of our neighbouring municipalities, we would work individually with those municipalities on how we could share that."

Mayor Doblanko also adds that it was her expectation that the CED program was originally supposed to end once provincial funding ran out. Regional operators of the initiative are seeking $150,000 split between all participating members in order to continue the program.