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Community Economic Development (CED)

About CED

Community economic development (CED) is based on a philosophy that people in communities can best make decisions about local opportunities and challenges. Community Futures Centre West helps communities take a leadership role in defining their futures and achieving sustainable development.

Community Futures Centre West services are available to a wide range of organizations, including:

  • Municipal councils, boards and committees
  • Regional and community non-profit organizations
  • Service clubs and other special interest groups

These services are provided to assist stakeholders build skills and knowledge to create efficient and effective methods of group organization and planning.

Specific facilitation and training services include:

  • Strategic planning
  • Project development
  • Board governance
  • How to conduct effective meetings
  • Moderating public meetings
  • Volunteerism recruiting and training
  • Researching and applying for funding

Community Futures Centre West will also research new training opportunities to meet the demand for specific skills development for regional municipalities and community organizations in areas related to Community Economic Development.

Please contact us if you would like more information about any of our services.

Rural Community Economic Development program (RCED)

The Rural Community Economic Development Project is a 3-year $2.1 million pilot project for rural community economic development project funding. It is part of the Western Economic Partnership Agreement called the Rural Community Economic Development Initiative that includes three components: the Rural CED Project Funds, CED Specialists and funding for the Regional Economic Development Alliances.

The vision for the Rural Economic Development Initiative is to provide enhanced CED support and leadership to rural communities and to foster increased collaboration between Community Futures and Regional Economic Development Alliances (REDAs).

Eligible projects must:

  • meet an identified need within a community/region in Alberta
  • have identifiable CED outcomes
  • be funded in part by other sources
  • be submitted by a CF office and supported by the local REDA

The RCED project funds proposals up to $50,000. All projects must be submitted through a Community Futures office. If you have a project that you feel could be eligible for RCED funding, please contact us. To see a list of RCED projects funded to date, click here. The RCED project will be ending March 15, 2008

Our current project:

Western Watersheds Research Collaborative

The Western Watersheds Climate Research Collaborative (WWCRC) is a not-for-profit consortium incorporated to provide science-based analysis of climate change impacts and consequences to industry and government. Located in Canmore, Alberta the collaborative promotes understanding of climate impacts on river systems originating in the Rocky Mountains. Our mission is to find out what climate change impacts might occur, determine the direct consequences of these impacts on communities and each of our economic sectors and then propose the best practices, technologies and public policy options to deal with those impacts.

Our market includes the three levels of government, business, industry and the public. Our enterprise is knowledge-based. Our product is the service of providing timely notice of expected changes, interpretation of their consequences and answers to questions related to effective ways to adapt successfully to climate change.

Project Deliverables:
Business Plan
Conference
Publication of research

Visit the Success Stories page to read about our completed projects.

Rural Diversification Initiative (RDI)

The RDI initiative provides funds to Community Futures organizations for economic diversification projects in Alberta. The total amount available for project funding is $3.48 million over 3 years from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2011. Total costs for each RDI project will be at least $100,000. RDI funding will cover a maximum of 60% of eligible project costs. This initiative is funded through Western Economic Diversification Canada and is administered by Community Futures of Alberta

Goals:

Rural economic diversification is a process with the long-term goal of building a community that has long-term sustainability, resiliency in the face of change, and a broad economic base with a variety of types of businesses and jobs. As a process, rural economic diversification is community-based and rooted in a strategic analysis of the community’s strengths and advantages. RDI funds will be used to facilitate informed, strategic investment decisions within coherent regional development strategies with a goal of regional competitiveness. All projects funded by RDI will be rooted in a community economic development strategy that is based on the region’s unique strengths and comparative advantages.
RDI will support projects under the following categories. Please note that RDI projects do not have to address all of these areas to be eligible for funding – targeting one (or more) of the following areas is acceptable.

Innovation

  • Support for and Promotion of Productivity Enhancement: This includes helping firms enhance efficiency or productivity through the adoption of technology, using new materials, using new processes, introducing lean manufacturing, industry training, encouraging the mobility of skilled labour to help pass ideas from one firm to another, improved access to information, shared equipment or services through a business incubator-type project, etc.
  • Support for and Promotion of New Products/Services: This includes the development of innovative products or services.
  • Support for and Promotion of New Technology: Examples include assistance with commercialization, support for inventors, technology demonstration sites, exposing firms to ideas and R&D from other countries, or linking firms to university and R&D companies.
  • Import Replacement: Examples include identification of gaps and business attraction, business expansion, reverse trade projects, and shop local projects
  • Development of New Markets: This includes export development or developing new markets in targeted sectors like procurement.
  • Innovative Access to Capital: This includes the development of local or cluster angel investor networks, programs that encourage innovative funding for business, and innovative access to growth capital

Cluster Development

  • Cluster Development: This includes assistance with industry development or assistance with cluster development such as developing business incubators targeted at a sector, assisting with building demand for a cluster product, organizing support services (like venture capitalists, market research companies, R&D companies), helping to build management expertise in a cluster, etc. Examples of emerging sectors include tourism, manufacturing, agri-food, nutraceuticals, or alternative energy production.
  • Value-Adding to Traditional Sectors: This includes assistance with value-adding in agriculture, oil and gas, forestry, and mining

All projects must be submitted through a Community Futures office. If you have a project that you feel could be eligible for RDI funding, please contact us.

Rural Alberta’s Development Fund

Rural Alberta's Development Fund is an independent not-for-profit company that wants to work with groups, organizations and communities that care about growing rural Alberta. The Fund's Board of Directors are looking for new or innovative projects that are community-supported, collaborative, and will have a positive, sustained impact on rural Alberta.