Shop YXH wins award at Economic Developers Alberta Annual Awards of Excellence

Medicine Hat  – Shop YXH takes home the ‘Business Retention and Expansion’ award for medium-sized communities at the Economic Developers Alberta (EDA) Annual Awards of Excellence last night on May 20, 2021.

“The team at Shop YXH is thrilled to be recognized and awarded for our efforts to support local YXH regional businesses,” says Kelli Ireland, marketing specialist, Invest Medicine Hat, and project manager, Shop YXH.” There were some incredible project submissions from other municipalities in the province and we are honored to have been selected as the leader in this category.”

The 2021 EDA Annual Awards of Excellence honour Alberta individuals for their contribution to the profession; as well as Alberta communities for excellence in: Business and Investment Attraction; Business Retention and Expansion; and Community Economic Development.

The Shop YXH marketplace was launched in December 7 in partnership with Community Futures – Entre Corp / APEX Alberta, the Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce, and Invest Medicine Hat to support local businesses who were forced to shut their doors due to the COVID restrictions.

“The ongoing pandemic has been a rollercoaster for local businesses. Shop YXH allows us to bring the business community together on one online platform and encourage residents to discover and buy local,” says Tracy Stroud, regional innovation network coordinator, APEX Alberta. “It also allows us to support the business’ marketing efforts by advertising their products and services for free.”

The Shop YXH marketplace was made possible by the ‘Rural Opportunities Fund’, which is supported by Western Economic Diversification Canada. Through the ‘Rural Opportunities Fund’, the Community Futures Pan West Network, supports community resiliency projects and business retention initiatives, such as encouraging population growth or helping succession planning for small business owners.

To date the site features over 140 local businesses, 9,000 products in the YXH region and has seen over 40K unique visitors to the site.

For further information about selling on Shop YXH, please email hello@shopyxh.ca or visit www.ShopYXH.ca. Connect with Shop YXH on Facebook and Instagram.





For media inquiries, please contact:

Kelli Ireland

Invest Medicine Hat

kelire@medicinehat.ca