In the ongoing mission to grow the City of Estevan and provide new economic opportunities for residents and businesses, the City of Estevan and the economic development board have hired Doug Griffiths of 13 Ways Inc. to develop a strategy and action plan that identifies new economic opportunities and how best to attract businesses and new residents to the city.
The team from 13 Ways Inc. will be making their first trip to Estevan from Nov. 17-21. The focus will be on meeting new and former elected officials, people associated with economic development and administration.
The rest of the time will be assessing the community for opportunities and changes. Over the next several months, they will be returning to conduct more meetings and interviews with members of the public and business community.
The results from the meetings will be used to deliver a strategic plan and a tactical playbook for the economic development board to use in their effort to provide more economic opportunities in the City of Estevan.
鈥淓ngaging the public in a way that brings them through the process and excites them about the opportunities available to them and the business community is paramount to our process of developing this unique strategy,鈥� said Griffiths. 鈥淏y meeting with and engaging a diverse community, we are able to fully understand and mould our strategies to fit the community's needs.鈥�
鈥淥ur new partnership with 13 Ways Inc. was made possible thanks to grant funding from
Western Economic Diversification and the Coal Communities Transition Fund,鈥� said city manager Jeff Ward. 鈥淪ince the fund was announced, we have made several applications for economic development initiatives and this project was one of the successful applications, so we鈥檙e excited to be able to move forward with Doug and his team.鈥�
Griffiths, who is the author of the best-selling book 13 Ways to Kill your Community, is the leader of 13 Ways. Griffiths retired from provincial politics in Alberta in 2015 to actively pursue his passion of helping communities, organizations and businesses grow stronger.
Griffiths鈥� team consists of three other staff members that specialize in areas such as strategic consulting and planning, as well as digital marketing. Together the team uses their diverse experiences to develop strategic plans for communities that are transitioning and looking to find new ways to attract business and residential opportunities to their communities.
