Growing Lloydminster...If We Can`t Find It, We`ll Build It.

CITY OF LLOYDMINSTER
www.lloydminster.ca
02 City of Lloyd
Booming b
dminster
bordertown
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MUNICIPAL
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MUNICIPAL • City of Lloydminster
JULY 2011 • The Canadian Business Journal
Straddling the border that separates the western provinces of
Saskatchewan and Alberta, the city of Lloydminster has grown into
a vibrant business centre.
The city is home to a population just short of 30,000 and at 104 years old
can boast of a curious history. Colonized at the turn of the 20th century by
British immigrants looking to create their own Puritan utopian vision, today
the city is a noted regional centre for the agricultural and energy industries.
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MUNICIPAL • City of Lloydminster
Lloydminster mayor Jeff Mulligan says,
business intensity, and with its unique position
“We have a catchment area with a population
on the border between two provinces, the city is
approaching 125,000 which is largely created
able to operate relatively freely in both Alberta
by the fact that we’re 230 kilometres from the
and Saskatchewan.
two major commercial centres of Alberta and
Saskatchewan—Edmonton and Saskatoon.
Mulligan claims it is this distance from either
“We operate under one city hall with one
charter, but we are licenced to do business in
both provinces,” explains Mulligan. “We are the
industrial centre that represents the city’s great-
only city in Saskatchewan or Alberta that oper-
est strength and weakness, but that the distance
ates with its own charter, which in theory means
has helped turn Lloydminster into a service
we’re a city state as we’re not governed by the
centre for the municipalities, villages and towns
Municipal Government Act in either province.
within a 125 kilometre radius.
“Lloydminster is also blessed with a young-
In 2009, a study by the Bank of Montreal
er than average demographic, plus our resi-
ranked the city second in all of Canada for small
dents have higher-than-average salaries and
MUSGRAVE AGENCIES
JULY 2011 • The Canadian Business Journal
7
“Growing Lloydminster...If We Can’t Find It, We’ll Build It.”
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Our corporate philosophy is to invest
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780.875.9159
Lloydminster is a Happy, Vibrant Community to be a part of.
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MUNICIPAL • City of Lloydminster
disposable incomes,” he adds.
Despite its unique geographical positioning,
Lloydminster can often be found high up lists
that depict the best places in which to do business in Western Canada.
“Many people and institutions have inde-
also by Alberta Venture, who ranked us in either
first, second or fifth place from 2008 to 2010,”
he adds.
Perhaps most impressive in its roll call of accolades is being rated by the Bank of Montreal as
the second best city in small business intensity
pendently validated us as a leading business
in 2009. According to Mulligan, the city’s combi-
destination in the past few years,” says Mul-
nation of the business growth opportunities and
ligan. “Alberta Venture magazine named Lloy-
its population’s higher-than-average disposable
dminster in its 2009 and 2010 top 10 place in
incomes, are just two of the reasons the city is
Alberta to do business listings, and also named
finding itself at the right end of such assessments.
the city in its Saskatchewan top 10 in 2010.
“Recently we were named as one of the top
25 cities to do business in Western Canada,
“Along with our younger demographic, we
have a low- to mid-range property tax regime,”
he notes.
JULY 2011 • The Canadian Business Journal
“In Lloydminster you can purchase property at
a cost a little lower than you would in either Calgary
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much to fuel the growth and prosperity of smalland medium-size business for the past 25 years.”
or Edmonton. Business will find the availability of
a workforce, as well as easy access to consumers
Creating a brand
and a work place that can drive margins.”
Elected as mayor back in October 2009, Mulligan
Leading the city’s strong energy-led economy is its biggest employer Husky Energy. It also
accommodates two of the country’s largest
credit unions, one on either side of the border.
was the CEO of a financial institution until retiring
in April 2009, just months before his poll victory.
“Back then what I saw was that there wasn’t
enough professionalism, focus or vision in the area
“From a cooperative or credit union perspec-
of economic development, so the first thing we did
tive, our small city is quite an anomaly in that we
was try to find out what the great economic devel-
have around $3 billion worth of assets in our two
opment models were available to us and see what
credit unions,” says Mulligan. “In a city of this size
it was we should have been doing to aid develop-
it’s pretty much unheard of, but it has done so
ment in Lloydminster,” reveals Mulligan.
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MUNICIPAL • City of Lloydminster
As a result of this progressive economic approach, the Lloydminster Economic Development
Corporation (LEDC) was established with an inde-
global economic crisis, the city of Lloydminster is
emerging from the downturn with very few scars.
“We were fortunate that Alberta and Saskatch-
pendent leadership and a board of directors made
ewan endured the recession better than most,”
up of local business leaders. Its task was to estab-
says Mulligan. “Our house prices and land values
lish a clear strategic vision in the area of economic
probably suffered a 12 to 17 per cent impact, of
development.
which 75 per cent has been recovered.
“From the work of the LEDC, it became clear
“In many cases, our businesses were
that branding and awareness were big components
operating in an overheated environment prior to
of a successful city, and we realized that getting the
the recession, which was placing strain on staff,
Lloydminster name onto the market in an advanced
quality assurance and leadership development.
way was an extreme priority.”
The recession enabled these businesses to focus
on problem areas, and as we emerge from it quite
Dealing with the recession
healthy and strong, we are finding ourselves in a
With the much of Canada still recovering from the
stronger operational position.
JULY 2011 • The Canadian Business Journal
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Lloydminster Ad.indd 1
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MUNICIPAL • City of Lloydminster
JULY 2011 • The Canadian Business Journal
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MUNICIPAL • City of Lloydminster
JULY 2011 • The Canadian Business Journal
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MUNICIPAL • City of Lloydminster
“If someone visited Lloydminster during the
recession, it would have been difficult to notice
any difference,” he remarks. Despite this assessment, the city did see a dip in the number of building permits issued and a slight reduction in capital
spending; but according to Mulligan the recovery
was quick and 2011 is gearing up to be a record
setting year of the number of both commercial and
residential development permits applied for.
Moving forward
At Lloydminster City Hall, a lot of work in the past
year-and-a-half has gone into developing a positive
workplace culture.
JULY 2011 • The Canadian Business Journal
“We’ve undertaken a lot of work on cultural
transformation and have identified how we move
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goals and establish what our city’s priorities are.”
Mulligan believes that within the next five years
from a permission-based operating culture to a
Lloydminster will emerge as a “more pronounced
service-based culture,” remarks Mulligan.
service centre” for the region, with stronger strategic
“Another important task we have undertaken
partnerships in place with nearby towns and cities.
in the past year is to try and retain within the city
“We want to be a centre for innovation,” he
the best people we can so that we can deliver the
stresses. “We want to achieve this by engaging the
services that will provide our businesses and our
public and we want to demonstrate accountability as
taxpayers with the environment they need to be
expected from the government.” CB
successful. We also have a project called E4 Lloydminster, which has been designed to deliver the
comprehensive Municipal Development Plan by the
spring of 2012, and will provide us with the vision,
parameters, boundaries and direction to meet our
www.lloydminster.ca
AS SEEN IN THE JULY 2011 ISSUE
OF THE CANADIAN BUSINESS JOURNAL