Cut red tape
"It should be easy to start a business here. We need to up our game in this area," she said.
Decter Hirst said Brandon is falling short of its economic potential because it's not experiencing the kind of business expansion and recruitment that a community of nearly 50,000 - and the service centre to another 150,000 - should be having. People, for a variety of reasons, aren't as willing as she'd like them to be to risk their money on a new or expanded venture.
She said a kinder, simpler regulatory environment would go a long way toward convincing local residents to get off their wallets.
For example, Brandon is "extremely limited" with mixed-use zoning, she said. If a building owner has a retail store on the first floor and wants to put suites above it, the process to do so is "cumbersome."
She is also committed to the creation of a more vibrant downtown, complete with a critical mass of people who live and work in the central business district.
"Right now we've got about 1,000 people who live downtown and we could easily accommodate a thousand more. We're looking for a Waterfront Drive, Exchange District kind of energy," she said, referring to a pair of increasingly vibrant areas of downtown Winnipeg.
Target store eyed
Things had been quiet on the retail front until the mid-January announcement by U.S. giant Target that it had bought discount retailer Zellers from the Hudson's Bay Co. While one of the world's most recognizable brands is still two years away from taking its place on Canada's retail landscape, Harrison predicted Brandon could see "one or two" Target stores.
"I think [the arrival] of Target will be great," he said.
It's hard to argue with Brandon's potential. It's the only city in Canada with a population less than 50,000 that has a university, a community college and an emergency service college. Last year, Money Sense magazine ranked Brandon No. 7 on its list of the best Canadian cities to live in and No. 1 in Western Canada. The disposable income of its residents, one of the most important drivers of economic growth, rose 25.4 per cent last year, too.
The mayor isn't content to rest on Brandon's history as a service centre for the agricultural sector in the southwestern part of the province. She said the future lies in the knowledge economy.
"We should just be a smart city, period," Decter Hirst said.
Not every opportunity requires a leap of faith, however. There is also the low-hanging fruit of the city's population of seniors, who make up more than one-fifth of all residents. They present a "wonderful" opportunity for providers of geriatric services, she said.
"That could be a whole (revenue) stream for us. There are 55-year-old baby boomers out there who are looking to retire in a pretty and safe community with lots of great restaurants," she said.
At the other end of the demographic scale, she said she and her council are looking at the possible role for the city's post-secondary institutions in creating clusters in sectors such as health-care training and research.
Manufacturing
Of course, it would be unrealistic to expect every piece of Brandon's economy to have emerged completely unscathed from the economic slowdown that started in the fall of 2008. Sandy Trudel, Brandon's economic development officer, said its manufacturing sector has yet to completely emerge from the woods but she's "cautiously optimistic" about the future.
"We're starting to see the businesses that were impacted by the recession gain a lot of ground back. We're starting to hear language like 'growth' and 'opportunity,' and we need to ramp up," she said.
In the "every cloud has a silver lining" file, Trudel said local manufacturers used the downturn to improve their efficiencies and diversify and broaden their markets.
Construction
Trudel said that Brandon's construction industry is poised for an all-out year in 2011. Arguably the most significant project is the new downtown YMCA. The 16.5-million project will encompass 52,000 square feet and be the second-biggest in the country when it opens in the spring of 2013. It will also be a surefire boon to downtown businesses, she said.
Other projects on the go include a $24 million CancerCare Manitoba facility that will enable people in the southwestern part of the province to receive radiation, chemotherapy and outpatient care without having to travel to Winnipeg, a new $13 million police station, the conversion of the old Mackenzie Seeds building into nearly 100 condominiums and the redevelopment of the city's historic Canada Pacific building into office and commercial space.
One per cent vacancy
Brandon's biggest challenge is housing, or lack thereof. With vacancy rates below 1 per cent - tied as the lowest rate in Canada - the need for more apartments is obvious. Once the shortfall is dealt with, Brandon University and Assiniboine Community College can increase their enrolment, according to Decter Hirst.
"I'm incredibly optimistic about the future. Five generations of my family call Brandon home so there isn't anything more important to me than making this city the best it can be. We've had a change in attitude. We think about growth as a good thing," the mayor said.
from Western Investor, February 2011
