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.

We chat with Evan Walker, a graduate student at the University of Alberta in the Department of Political Science, and a policy intern at Edmonton Global. Evan has been working on a research paper exploring global best practices in red tape reduction to support business investment and economic growth. We talk about what red tape is, what it isn't, and how it can improve economic competitiveness.

We talk with Dr. Stanford Blade, Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Alberta and professor in the Faculty’s Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Science. We talk about the importance of building a strong talent pipeline, how innovation is enhancing the food and agriculture sector, and how the University of Alberta is partnering with industry to commercialize research. 

Dr. Stan Blade's Twitter: @DeanALES_UofA 
For more information on the faculty: https://www.ualberta.ca/agriculture-life-environment-sciences/index.html 

We talk to Anna Look, owner and founder of Look Ahead Consulting. We talk about the role business events play in economic development and investment attraction, as well as the latest trends and shifts that are happening in the business events sector.

Anna's website: https://lookaheadconsulting.ca/ 
Anna's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-look/
Anna's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdMSDWV_nljoFh5Q5nPOA6Q 

We talk with Jerry Bouma, a local and well-respected consultant in the food and agriculture industry, who has consulted throughout the globe. He shares his insights as to why the Edmonton Metropolitan Region has so much potential in this sector, the current challenges, and where we go from here.

Jerry can be reached by email at: jerry (at) jerryboumaassociates.com

Sherri and Brianna chat with Dr. Leanne Hedberg, Director of the Social Innovation Institute and Associate Professor in MacEwan University's Department of Organizational Behaviour, Human Resources Management and Management. We chat about barriers to building an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem, social entrepreneurship, and how we can improve access and supports for underrepresented entrepreneurs. 

Brianna and Sherri chat esports with CK Dhaliwal and Madison Côté. What are “esports” and why are they an economic development opportunity for the Edmonton Metropolitan Region? On February 18 & 19, 2023, the Alberta Esports Expo is being held – free – at the Edmonton Expo Centre https://esportsalberta.ca/aee

In the final episode for 2022, Brianna and Sherri chat with the CEO of Edmonton Global, Malcolm Bruce, about the year's highlights in economic development for the Edmonton Metropolitan Region.

Searle Turton, MLA for Spruce Grove-Stony Plain, talks about the Edmonton Metro Region Economic Recovery Working Group that he recently chaired. He shares his experience moving from municipal to provincial politics and some ideas for engaging more people in the trades.

Mark Nikota manages the economic development corporation for another region in Alberta: the Harvest Sky Region. Brianna and Sherri ask about some of the region's past economic challenges and current initiatives.

Learn more at: https://harvestsky.ca/ 

Sherri and Brianna talk with guests Sheila Chauvet and Ashley Clark about a program that connects small businesses in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region with a student consultant that helps the business develop an online presence.

To learn more about program, check out: www.yourdep.ca
To learn more about Sheila's business (and see the website she created with Ashley's help), check out: https://www.steppingforwardpsychology.com/
To learn more about the University of Alberta School of Business Consulting Group, check out: https://www.schoolofbusinesscg.com/

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/

We chat with Todd Babiuk about place branding that goes beyond buzzwords and gets to the heart of what makes a region truly unique and the role that place branding plays in economic development. Todd, a former Edmontonian, is now the CEO of Brand Tasmania in Australia. 

Website: https://www.toddbabiak.com/ 
Twitter: @babiak

Brand Tasmania website: https://tasmanian.com.au/
Twitter: @BrandTasmania

Jade Chiles, CEO & Co-Founder of Ordr, tells us about the new Ordr app, why he developed it, his career journey, and future plans for the company.

Website: https://ordr.io/
Twitter: @ORDReats

We chat with Edmonton Global's Jeff Bell, Director of Research & Business Intelligence, about his career journey and about how data collection and analytics are used in economic development. 

Sherri and Brianna share information about their roles at Edmonton Global, discuss past episodes and guests, ideas for the podcast moving forward, and why they support regional collaboration.

Follow Brianna on Twitter at: @Brianna_jh

We discuss a big upcoming event hosted by Edmonton Global with guests Hana Marinkovic, Director of Corporate Affairs at Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation, and Chris McLeod, VP of Global Marketing and Communications at Edmonton Global.

We chat with Myron Keehn, VP of Air Service, Business Development, ESG and Stakeholder Relations at the Edmonton International Airport (EIA). We discuss how airports are economic drivers for a region, the history of the EIA, and the EIA's sustainability initiatives.

Follow the EIA on Twitter: @FlyEIA

We chat with Janet Lane, Director of Human Capital Centre at the Canada West Foundation, about their recent report "Work to Live: Alberta Youth Mobility" and how youth perceptions impact a region's ability to attract and retain talent. 

https://cwf.ca/research/publications/new-report-work-to-live-alberta-youth-mobility/

We speak with Dr. Riya Ganguly, the University of Alberta's new Associate Vice President, Enterprise, and a former VP at Edmonton Global. We discuss career pathways, the role that post-secondary institutions play in economic development, the life sciences, and more!

We chat with Adam O'Brien, CEO and founder of Bitcoin Well, the first publicly traded bitcoin company in the world.

https://bitcoinwell.com/
Twitter: @adamobrien_

We chat with Zack Storms of Startup TNT about angel investing and building community within the startup ecosystem.

www.startuptnt.com/
www.startuptnt.com/events
Twitter: @Startup_TNT

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.

We chat with Dr. Bob Murray about challenges in economic development and the role of post-secondary institutions in growing the economy.

https://www.dentons.com/en/robert-murray

On this episode we discuss the recent Canadian Hydrogen Convention, ESG, and economic development with Alberta's Associate Minister for Natural Gas and Electricity Dale Nally.

On this episode, we discuss factors that support a growing tech and innovation sector. We also chat about how the tech sector is not limited to urban areas.

Dorothy can be found at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorothy-chan-cpa-ca-2baa8125/
Saurabh can be found at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saurabhkumar7/

In this episode we talk about how a strong talent strategy can be a major driver for investment attraction. We speak to Joelien Jose, Canada Country Head for HCL Technologies, about the innovative approach they are taking to secure a strong talent pool to support their expansion plans.

HCL website: https://www.hcltech.com/

We speak to Edmonton Global's Executive Vice President, Mustafa Sahin, about building relationships globally to drive local growth and prosperity. 

We interview Stephen Lund, CEO of Toronto Global. He shares highlights and lessons learned over the course of his career in economic development.

https://torontoglobal.ca/

We discuss the potential of the hydrogen industry with Edmonton Global's Brent Lakeman and what’s happening to encourage a transition to hydrogen energy. 

We learn from Dr. Kerri Holland about exciting developments in the agriculture sector and what can be done to foster its growth and attract investment, especially in value-added agriculture.
 
Kerri can be reached by email: hollandk (at) shaw.ca 

We interview Chris Steele, who has worked as a corporate site selector and has assisted dozens of companies as they decided where in the world to invest. We ask him how much government incentives matter, how they’re best used, and what governments should not do.  

https://www.ebp-us.com/ 

In this inaugural episode, Brianna and Sherri chat with the CEO of Edmonton Global, Malcolm Bruce.

Brianna: bmorris@edmontonglobal.ca
Sherri: sbouslama@edmontonglobal.ca

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. 

Economic Development Matters is a new podcast coming soon presented by Edmonton Global, the economic development agency for the Edmonton Metropolitan Region in Canada. Hosted by Brianna Morris and Sherri Bouslama. We launch on Monday, February 7th at 12:00p MST
On today's episode, Brianna and Sherri introduce themselves. They discuss why they wanted to start this podcast and what they envision for it.
Brianna: bmorris@edmontonglobal.ca
Sherri: sbouslama@edmontonglobal.ca
Website: edmontonglobal.ca

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-643129155617

Information 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/