Doing Big Business in Edmonton

The possibilities of more direct flights from the Edmonton International Airport, allowing mixed development in the river valley and doing a better job of advertising Edmonton as a cultural destination were all discussed yesterday, when three local CEOs discussed the benefits — and challenges — of locating a big business in Edmonton rather than Toronto.

They gathered at Grant MacEwan University Wednesday night for Doing Business There From Here, a panel discussion on how big business can be successful if done from Edmonton.

“As a public company, we get asked these questions [such as why have an Edmonton head office?] three to four times a year,” said Stantec President and CEO Bob Gomes. “They usually come from investors, usually from New York or Toronto.”

But Stantec, which was launched 57 years ago, has no plans to move. Neither does PCL, which has construction projects all over the globe, but has been headquartered in Edmonton since 1932.

“We’ve had offers, but no serious consideration to move away,” said PCL President and CEO Paul G. Douglas. “As the city grows, so do we.”

Lack of direct flights are an issue, but the ability to network with clients online has mitigated that a bit. And recruiting is an issue — as top talent needs to be sold on the idea of coming to Edmonton. But it’s not the weather that’s challenging, it’s the fact that the city doesn’t advertise just how much there is to do here.

“We get a lot of returning Albertans,” said Leo de Bever, CEO of Alberta Investment Management Corporation. “They go away, they have a few kids, and there is a hankering to go back where you grew up. And, the city is full of people who said they’d try it on for a year or two and they stick for 20 or 30.”

Living here isn’t as cheap as it used to be, so Edmonton needs to do more to entice that top talent to move here. And all three suggested that the current state of the river valley doesn’t help.

It should be mentioned that all three panelists are in investments, design and construction. But, to make Edmonton a world-class city, they said the River Valley has to be opened to some mixed-use development and not simply kept as the largest stretch of parkland in North America.

“For a vibrant river valley, we need shops and restaurants, not just jogging,” said Gomes.

Edmonton isn’t thought of a head-office city, but it is home to 16 of the Report on Business 1000. Stantec is the second-largest firm in Canada, it employs 11,000 people globally and has $100 million of payroll in Edmonton alone. PCL has constructed West Edmonton Mall phases and is working on the Edmonton Clinic, but it also has projects in Hawaii and Australia and has built NHL arenas in Ottawa, Toronto and Los Angeles.

When asked how do they see Edmonton growing in the future, they agreed that diversification is important, but only in ways that are complimentary to the core industries — oil, gas, construction, forestry, agriculture.

“Diversification is often unsuccessful if someone tries to be Silicon Valley northeast, west or south,” said de Bever.

He said there was “no point” to try and kickstart a high-tech sector that didn’t have some relation to other existing industries.

How will that jive with the kind of ambitious plans we have seen from Startup Edmonton? The organization run by Cam Linke and Ken Bautista is trying to create an environment in this city where fledgling high-tech hopefuls can tap into investment dollars and grow. It’s a fascinating show of the dichotomy between conventional investor wisdom and the risk-taking we are seeing from the high-tech sector in Edmonton.