Economic Development Matters / Edmonton Global

Brianna will be away on maternity leave for the next year so we are welcoming Kristen Aspenes, Engagement Coordinator at Edmonton Global as Sherri's new co-host.  Kristen shares a bit about her background and role with Edmonton Global and Brianna does a bit of a look back over her time with the organization so far. 

Sherri and Brianna speak with Adam Legge, President of the Business Council of Alberta. We talk about their ongoing work to support business-friendly policies for the province and about their latest report, Future Unbuilt, which provides recommendations to the federal government on how to improve Canada's regulatory processes to build major infrastructure that enables us to achieve ambitious environmental and economic targets.

Brianna and Sherri speak with Stan Wraight, President and CEO of SASI World, Charles Edwards, VP of SASI World, and Alex Lowe, from the Edmonton International Airport (YEG). They discuss the ongoing work to build out cargo capacity at the Edmonton International Airport and what trends are happening globally that impact global logistics and cargo transport. https://www.sasiworld.com/

Sherri and Brianna chat with Rachel Connell, VP of the North American Strategy for Competitiveness (NASCO), about their upcoming reunion event taking place in Edmonton, August 29-31, 2023. The event will see Canada, U.S., and Mexico business and political leaders gather to discuss the future of our North American trading relationships.Learn more about the event here.

Sherri and Brianna were invited by UDI - Edmonton Metro to their event to launch their State of Growth report. The report was jointly produced with the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board and provides a compelling snapshot of the region’s diverse assets and offerings around four themes: people and housing, economic competitiveness and employment, land use and development opportunities, and quality of life. The full report can be found here or at https://www.udiedmonton.com/reports. 

We speak to Andrew MacIsaac, CEO of Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation (API) about supporting the life sciences sector by linking post-secondary institutions and industry and facilitating commercialization. We also talk about the Canadian Critical Drug Initiative and the work being done to build the Edmonton region into a pharmaceutical R & D and manufacturing hub. Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation: https://appliedpharma.ca/ Andrew can be followed on Twitter: @andrewkm

We chat with Dr. Sebastian Knebel and Vladimir Srezoski from Smyze, based in Switzerland, and James Johnson, founder of Vender Convenience, a cashless convenience store opening in downtown Edmonton. Smyze is investing to install their robotic barista in the store - their first North American location.https://www.venderconvenience.com/https://smyze.com/en/ 

We chat with Peter Fenwick, Director, Scale-Up and Growth Programs at Mount Royal University, and Steven Martens, co-lead of the Hydrogen Innovation Accelerator. We discuss how accelerators work and current initiatives in Alberta to support the emerging hydrogen economy.Register for the Hydrogen Hack on June 21st in Edmonton: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/hydrogen-hack-learn-and-participate-hydrogen-innovation-accelerator-tickets-643129155617Information on the Hydrogen Innovation Accelerator: https://www.innovationaccelerator.ca/  

Kalen Anderson is the Executive Director of the Urban Development Institute - Edmonton Metro, and Susan Keating is their board chair. We learn about their organization and how land use policy affects economic development and housing affordability.https://www.udiedmonton.com/

We chat with Ian MacGregor, who played a lead role in the building of the Sturgeon Refinery. Ian is the founder of Hydrogen Naturally, a company using proven technology, sustainable forest waste fibre, and in-depth knowledge of carbon sequestration to build a reliable long-lasting hydrogen supply source in the Edmonton region. We talk about the Edmonton region's extensive experience building large scale projects and tackling and solving industry challenges.Hydrogen Naturally website: https://www.h2naturally.com/