What it takes to be on top: How Alberta leads Canadian Entrepreneurs

Analysis on the history and educational advantages Alberta has among other provinces

By: Tiffany Narducci, Staff Writer         

Starting your own business requires a lot of hard work, time, financing and dedication.  It involves taking a calculated risk in the hopes that you’ve put your finger on something society needs or wants.  You must know the demographics of your market to ensure you’ve tapped into something new and relevant.  Or, you could just move to Alberta.

According to this year’s Communities in Boom report, five of the top 10 business-friendly municipalities in the overall national rankings were from Alberta.  Greater Calgary (Airdrie, Rocky View, Cochrane, and Chestermere) ranked first nationally, while Lloydminster snagged second place. Red Deer, Grand Prairie and Greater Edmonton all ranked fourth, sixth and ninth, respectively.  Albertan cities did more than just earn the majority of the highest-ranking spots; cities across the province were to be found throughout the list, ensuring that Alberta was not only represented for quality, but also quantity.

Alberta is Canada’s wealthiest province – and that’s not about to change.  This year’s RBC Economics Provincial Outlook states Alberta’s GDP (gross domestic product) growth will not only lead the country in 2014, but for the next two years at the very least.   According to the Calgary Herald, the report suggests “heavy energy sector investment will continue to play a key role in driving Alberta’s GDP to new heights in 2014 but it will be the broadening of the expansion across economic sectors that will accelerate the pace.”

Business is booming in Alberta, with no apparent signs of slowing down.  So what exactly is it about the prairie province that’s got business owners so riled up?

History

Kimberely Neutens of the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business agrees that part of the key to Alberta’s success lies in its history.

“There is something that’s different in the DNA.  [Alberta] grew from a prairie town to a global player in the energy sector in a relatively short period of time,” says Neutens.  “The city was known for deals with a handshake, founded on trust, and people who had interesting ideas to pursue.  You always hear about the can-do spirit, the entrepreneurial spirit of the town or city.”

Alberta’s history is chock-full with examples of its entrepreneurial spirit.  Anthony Henday, the first European to arrive in Alberta, was a fur trader.  The fur trade became a defining facet of Alberta’s growth as a province – trading endeavors allowed for the mapping of Alberta in the 1790’s and early 1800.  The North-West Company (Hudson Bay’s biggest competitor in the fur trade) commissioned David Thompson to draw the first maps of the province.

The arrival of the railway in 1883 brought in Alberta’s first settlers, who became successful ranchers and farmers in the province’s foothills.  Growing demand for wheat in Europe and increased access to machinery meant that settlers in Alberta were able to pave their own way forward, working in jobs that valued labour and resourcefulness.

From 1896 to 1914, Alberta grew exponentially.  Improvements in the railway system and advancements in science and technology allowed for farming families to prosper across the country.

Once the Great Depression hit, Alberta farmers suffered incredibly, due to droughts, grasshopper plagues, and soil erosion.  These factors, in combination with a poor economic climate (leading to the falling price of wheat), meant that many farmers and ranchers lost their livelihoods.

Then, fortune smiled on Alberta in 1947 when the first major oil discovery was made near Edmonton.  As more discoveries were made across the province, oil money flowed in and set Alberta apart from the other provinces as the home of business.  Since then, the oil industry has allowed for Alberta’s sustained growth over the years.

While business in Alberta has now branched out into many different kinds of business, oil remains at the heart of the province.  As stated by the Government of Alberta, oil remains a key factor in the province’s continued growth: “When the price of oil is high, Alberta prospers.  When it drops, as it did in the mid-1980s, times may be difficult […] Improved oil prices and the growth of new industries helped make Alberta’s economy one of the strongest in Canada.  Alberta is now a vibrant, prosperous province, with a high quality of life.”

As capital grew within the province, government, academics and business owners came together to ensure that growth continued and progressed.  The result has meant that research initiatives, like Alberta Innovates, have cut red tape in order to allow for the most welcoming atmosphere for entrepreneurs.  The Alberta Innovates website (an innovation and research initiative conducted by the Albertan provincial government) recognizes the importance of cooperation for economic progress.  According to them, Alberta has largely been able to achieve success because they have benefitted from the highest economic growth in Canada, ensuring a proper environment for research and innovation.

Justin Riemer, Assistant Deputy Minister of the Economic Competitiveness Division for the provincial government, explains how the combination of factors has helped entrepreneurship in Alberta:

“We’ve had a low tax environment, good funded infrastructure, well funded education and health care system which are things that investors look for to build the economy of off,” says Riemer. “Also, government has had a lot of great relationships with industry within the province.”

Riemer says these relationships (specifically within oil extraction, petrochemical, forestry and agriculture industries) go on to foster businesses, which in turn lead to supply chain businesses or support and equipment businesses.

While the relationship between government and business is crucial in creating an inviting atmosphere for entrepreneurs, the government of Alberta also recognizes the key role education plays in developing these relationships.  The Alberta Innovates website highlights the role of education in the province’s sustained growth:  “Our strong legacy is also based on Alberta’s top universities and academic programs that are ranked among the best in the world and have attracted some of the world’s best researchers.  Our success has extended into business where we have attracted some of the world’s largest and most successful corporations and to partner with us.”

Education

The Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary is hoping to further solidify the relationship between academia, innovation and entrepreneurship.  Launched last February, the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship will be taking students out of the classroom to real-life problem solving scenarios, or “action-based learning”.  Neutens, director of Haskyane’s Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, says this kind of active learning provides students (and future entrepreneurs) with invaluable experience, as earning their degree allows them to experiment with members of the industry and in various academic competitions:

“The centre is looking at non-traditional ways of teaching entrepreneurship.  Many schools offer programs […] where they teach students how to do a business plan, or how to finance a new venture and that’s all great,” she says.  “But what we’re doing is this whole concept of entrepreneurial thinking that goes beyond a traditional business plan.  We’re trying to figure out what are the characteristics, the behaviours that drive people to constantly innovate and challenge the status quo, but also how to continue innovation within the confines of big business.”

Riemer and Neutens both agree that education has been of the utmost importance in ensuring Alberta’s entrepreneurial success.  So much so, in fact, that the Albertan provincial government is now taking steps to incorporate entrepreneurial thinking and business to younger generations.

“Developing an entrepreneurial spirit in our kids is going to be one of the focuses of our curriculum development in the future,” he says.  “The government has indicated that.  We don’t tend to teach these things well in younger generations, but we’re taking […] a more intensive focus.  That’s what’s going to sustain our economy longer term.”

Although it may not involve ploughs or cattle, that “can-do” attitude, fostered in the rough and tumble history of their ancestors, is now being passed on to Albertan youth through cutting-edge academics and increased government-entrepreneur relationships.  This increased focus on education and innovation, in combination with a steadily-rising oil industry, ensures Alberta is earning its title as home of the Canadian entrepreneur.

Tiffany Narducci is a master’s candidate in Political Science at Carleton University in Ottawa, where she also completed her undergraduate degree in Journalism. She is passionate about international politics and how they affect humanitarian relief efforts, and hopes to begin a career in international development.

Photo courtesy to theepochtimes.com & albertatradecorridor.com