PREDA provides research and advocacy services that support the economic development efforts of small urbans and rural municipalities in Northwest Alberta. PREDA membership includes:
1: QUARTERLY Symposiums. Full-day symposiums that in-house researched with downloadable document packages, and are augmented with content expert speakers. These symposiums build a unified voice to advocate and raise awareness on the economic development opportunities and challenges of the region. Symposium topics are identified through:
A: PREDA’s extensive membership communications through in-person numerous committees, non-profits, and community functions. If something “big” is happening it spreads quickly throughout our membership.
B: PREDA and its membership continually monitor provincial, national, and global events and the potential impact these events may have on our communities.
2. ACCESS to Raw Data: PREDA monitors and refreshes direct datalinks to resources frequently used by economic development departments; such as Statistics Canada, Alberta Dashboard, Industry Canada, and the US Trade Portal. PREDA is available to assist members with accessing, analyzing, and incorporating the information.
3. SHARED Subscriptions: PREDA provides access to professional subscriptions frequently used by economic development departments for investment portfolios, business cases, and site location visits. PREDA is available to assist members with accessing, analyzing, and incorporating the information.
4. CLOSED Consultations: PREDA will meet one-on-one with any member to discuss & brainstorm. Topics can range from potential economic opportunities to CAO recruitment.
5. FEE for Services: Members can request value-added services beyond the general membership benefits. A complete list of PREDA’s fee-for-services is available in our Virtual Office
6. Municipal Project Fund: PREDA established the MPF to create opportunities for our municipal members to access funds to support smaller economic development projects within the PREDA membership. Recognizing the challenges communities have in initiating projects due to financial constraints, and further noting that numerous government grants are based on regional concepts and partnerships and collaborations, this fund is intended to assist projects that do not necessarily fall into these categories. The selection of grant recipients is conducted through a peer review process as delineated in the Terms of Reference for the MPF Selection Committee. More information is available in our Virtual Office.
