By Doug Collie | Aug 4, 2026 6:00 AM | Photo: Coun. Darren Wilson - File photo
OLDS — The new Town of Olds' economic development strategy for 2026 - 2031 focuses on attracting ag-related industries to town, given the existence of Olds College.
However, the municipality's chief administrative officer Brent Williams said the community has a few roadblocks in the way when it comes to attracting really large agriculturally-related industries, like flour mills, for example.
Williams gave that answer in response to a question from Coun. Darren Wilson during a committee of the whole meeting last month.
"The question I get is, why don't we have ag industry here, given all the positive indicators that we have," Wilson asked.
He wondered what it would take to attract "investors, developers, interested parties," to locate big ag-related industries in town.
"How do we link in with them? Is it through a coffee session," he asked.
Williams noted some ag-related business are already in Olds but the goal is to increase that number.
Williams said one problem for Olds is it's competing for those industries with communities across rural Alberta. He said another barrier is a lack of serviced industrial land in town.
"These businesses tend to be larger in nature than the one-acre plot that we can sell or can attract businesses here for smaller-scale things, like warehousing, for example."
Infrastructure challenges
He noted that one challenge in the southeast industrial park along 68th Street is the lack of a sanitary lift station.
"That is a key barrier," he said.
Another issue is utility costs, which, Williams said, tend to be lower in counties than in towns or cities.
"Oftentimes in rural areas you can tap into a well, or at the very least not have to send your effluent, your wastewater, into a regional commission," Williams said.
"(In) the town of Olds, we buy our potable water from the Mountain View Regional Water Commission and then we have to send that effluent after it's produced, let's say manufacturing processes, or whatever flour mills do, which I'm sure that requires abundance of water."
He said that gets sent back to Red Deer, around $3 per cubic metre.
"It's very expensive, so that's a competitive disadvantage, right there," Williams said.
"We have to find the right ag businesses. And trying to compete on the large-scale manufacturing, we lose pretty quickly, just based on utilities and higher land costs."
The available workforce is an issue too.
Williams said some major ag industries, like ethanol or pea processing, require a large workforce and at least in the past, employers were skeptical that Olds "has the ability to absorb those types of jobs."
Lack of housing was also an issue, at least a few years ago, but with all the multi-unit housing either constructed or in the works, that may not be such an issue now, he said.
College is a draw
On a positive note, Williams said the existence of the Olds College of Agriculture & Technology in the community is an advantage when trying to woo ag-related businesses or industries.
Recognizing that, Williams said the municipality is looking to strengthen its relationship with the college.
"That's what our engagement with them last month said, that we want to become more deliberate in our relationship, as opposed to just coexisting and waiting for something that makes sense for both of us," Williams said.
He said a recreation study involving the college, Mountain View County, the Olds Regional Exhibition and the Chinook's Edge School Division is looking at how they can cooperate more as well.
"We're trying to see how we could co-locate facilities and enable shared programming," Williams said.
He gave another example of a symbiotic situation between the Town and the college, saying students studying arboriculture (the care of trees and shrubs) at the college could perhaps get real-life experience taking care of and trimming trees and shrubs for the Town.
"I think this will take time and I believe the college is very much looking for ways to expand their research arm and get more integrated with ag businesses, and there's certainly opportunity there. We want to focus on that 110 per cent," he said.
Survey says ...
Most respondents to a community survey on the direction Olds should go in agreed the municipality should go after ag-related businesses, Williams said.
However, the fact that at least one data centre may be located in town was mentioned by some of the 82 respondents. Data centres store and process data, and are especially important for artificial intelligence.
"The open comments section, not surprisingly, had some data centre-focused questions," Williams said.
"Most actually were either positive or neutral on data centres, and that seems to be anecdotally the flavour with the business community, as opposed to some of the citizenry, certainly in East Olds, we've been seeing lately."
"I would say largely positive under the 81 responses, with a few obviously negative comments towards data centres," he added.
The economic development strategy has been in the works for more than three years, involving research, consultation, as well as engagement with Olds businesses, residents, and regional partners.
The strategy came up for further discussion during council's June 8 meeting.
Williams said the reaction from respondents has been "largely supportive of the Olds College relationship and of the growing focus on agriculture and what could come from that as our core anchor industrial business, given our geography and the cohabitation with Olds College."
"The strategy is council and the Town (of Olds) saying to ourselves, our community, the broader economy, that we are open for business, that we want to grow, and this is how we think we can grow," he said.
Williams also said the strategy is "a living document," and thus, "as things change, local or macro-economic, it can be updated."
Coun. Wanda Blatz said she is impressed with the strategy as well as the amount of work and engagement that went into it.
"I thought that it was well done. Maybe we could have had better responses, perhaps, but maybe not," she said.
"But anybody I've talked to that is aware of it, or aware of what our ec dev is trying to do right now in the community, is very impressed. So I just wanted to pass that on, and compliments to your ec dev department and your planning department and your administrative supported this and been working along with this, getting this strategy to council."