Here at CASE we were pleasantly surprised by the AB Government announcement on Oct 22, 2015 of the creation of a new ministry of Economic Development and Trade. The purpose of this ministry will be to support economic growth and diversification for Alberta’s economy and job creation by Alberta’s business.
The new ministry will be responsible for coordinating the research and innovation system to support commercialization of Alberta ideas, expanding access to capital for small- and medium-sized enterprises, and promoting trade and investment into Alberta.
We’re all for that!
The official news release can be found here:
http://alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=38716A33A7809-F0D7-E33B-DAEBE5EB50C7AC76
We found the following quote from the news release to be of greatest interest:
“We need to take the qualities that have made Alberta an energy leader – including an innovative, entrepreneurial culture and a highly skilled work force – and apply them to the challenge of building a diversified, 21st century economy.”
Deron Bilous, Minister of Economic Development and Trade
But here’s the rub…
When it comes to peeling back the onion to find what defines and determines a particular jurisdictions economic success we find “Gods Gifts” or, for those more secular observers, “big ticket non-variables”; whether it be population density and proximity to major markets (think Silicon Valley), natural trade routes and access to tidewater (think Singapore), climate, arable land (think the USA and India) or 166+ billion barrels of oil (think Alberta) are typically the most critical of components.
Entrepreneurs first identify a need or market that needs to be filled. From there they can only hope to be successful in that particular market if they can enter into it with some particular “unique market advantage” over those they will compete with. Those entering into a market with no distinct advantage, or worse yet, disadvantages over their competition will be doomed to fail. Slightly over 50% of small businesses fail to see their 5th anniversary. Most likely this is due to failing to take heed of this second point. No one can simply wish their way to success, even with the greatest of intentions.
Although the Alberta Governments recent announcement noted above fails to acknowledge the value of the critical component of “Gods Gifts” or “big-ticket non-variables” or “unique market advantage” when it comes to defining success we hope this critical component will eventually find its way into the conversation prior to our precious and limited fiscal resources being put at risk.
As a collection agency with offices in Edmonton, Calgary and the GTA we are watching with keen interest the unfolding of events with respect to these phenomenon and their impact (or lack thereof) on Canadian credit markets.