Business Recovery Task Force spurred quick recovery
It’s been a year, and it’s time to celebrate. It was at this time last summer that Calgary was submerged by flood waters and its business and residential communities started the long road to recovery.
Calgary Economic Development and the Calgary Chamber started working together immediately to help businesses struggling after the flood. The two organizations, along with many more, came together to form the Business Recovery Task Force, which has proven extraordinarily successful at aiding business recovery.
It is this recovery — and the part Calgarians played within it — that is worth celebrating, and Calgary Economic Development and the Calgary Chamber are doing just that. They’ll co-host a lunch on July 24 at the Calgary Zoo to recognize how the business community worked together to bring about its own revival.
The disaster spurred a productive partnership between the Calgary Economic Development and the Chamber.
“We really found a great way to build off of each other’s strengths” says Adam Legge, president and CEO of the chamber. “(Calgary Economic Development) really has a strength in the marketing and promotion side of things, and ours is in the business support and business assistance side. We made a fantastic team.”
The Business Recovery Task Force aimed to build awareness of the need to support businesses recovering — to get their doors open again and keep them that way.
“We deployed some very good information bases and sources to business to help them either recover in their existing situation, or help them plan for future natural disasters,” says Legge.
Calgary Economic Development led the Rediscover our City — YYCis Open campaign — aimed at “inviting Calgarians and Southern Albertans to do their part by eating, drinking and shopping at businesses that reopened in flood-affected areas,” says Bruce Graham, president and CEO, Calgary Economic Development. The campaign has proven extremely successful.
“We extended this campaign into the holiday season and currently less than 20 of the 4,000 affected businesses remain closed.”
Calgary Economic
“Currently less than 20 of the 4,000 affected businesses remain closed.”
— Bruce Graham, president and CEO of Calgary
Economic Development
Development and the Chamber C also helped businesses more directly, setting up the Business Flood Recovery Expo in a matter of weeks. The expo brought experts from many varied areas in which business owners needed guidance. Having specialists in banking, insurance, cleanup, marketing, and even a panel about entrepreneurship, under one roof provided a single stop for business owners to get the valuable information they needed to get back on their feet more quickly. The Business Recovery Task Force also set up business kiosks to provide expert information at various locations around the city.
This initial helping hand, combined with a sustained marketing presence, was able to drive customers back to flood affected companies.
“The businesses needed another shot in the arm after the flood, just to get those cash registers ringing, and I think Calgarians stepped up in a huge way to support the flood-affected businesses” says Legge.
“Many of my counterparts across North America are amazed at the lack of business failure as well as the lack of pillaging and looting that could have happened.”
The ability of Calgary’s businesses to bounce back as they did indicates plenty.
“The strength and resilience of our businesses, the supportive nature of our communities, and our willingness to help our neighbours in need, it speaks to the fact that nothing will hold a good Albertan down” says Legge.
This spirit and awareness helps ensure a longer term impact, where “the community can better support some of the local businesses in some pretty vibrant shopping and restaurant districts — not just after a crisis” says Graham.
It’s the recovery itself and the spirit of this success that Calgary Economic Development and the Chamber invites everyone to celebrate July 24 with a lunch at the Calgary Zoo. Tickets are $45 and available on CalgaryEconomicDevelopment.com. This sponsor content was developed by the Calgary Herald’s Special Projects
Department in collaboration with Calgary Economic Development for
commercial purposes.