City releases industry report on aviation, aerospace and defence in Southeast Alberta

Medicine Hat – Medicine Hat Economic Development (MHED) has released the first of two industry-specific business retention and expansion studies (BREIS), this one focusing on aviation, aerospace and defence in southeast Alberta.

In early 2024, MHED launched the effort, aimed to describe the current state of this industry, including challenges and opportunities in the region, and provide benchmarking and data to drive recommendations meant to support industry growth. The report is primarily targeted to aviation, aerospace and defence businesses and experts in the industry, but also has relevance to the Southeast Alberta business community as it may provide an indication of future initiatives.

The data reflects a larger goal of the department, to take action based on needs of the industry.

“Business Retention and Expansion programming supports data-based decision making and through our program we have validated the work needed to move industry forward,” said Selena McLean-Moore, Director, Medicine Hat Economic Development.

MHED confirms that no industry-specific studies have been done on the region recently, and with the last business retention and expansion study having been completed prior to COVID, this study provides much-needed data to support the expansion of a key regional sector, supporting economic advancement.

“I’m very excited to see the result of this nearly year-long study. This sector has an important role to play in the growth of our region, and I’m looking forward to actioning the stakeholder-validated recommendations and seeing the industry flourish,” said Alex Wright, Economic Development Officer, Medicine Hat Economic Development.

Medicine Hat Economic Development led the initiative with support from several community partners including Cypress County, the Town of Redcliff, Palliser Economic Partnership, Medicine Hat College, Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce, and Careers: The Next Generation. The effort is an important step forward in advancing MHED’s key pillar of Business and Industry Development.

The second industry specific report on manufacturing is expected to be released in the coming months.

Read the full State of the Industry: Aviation, Aerospace & Defence in Southeast Alberta report.

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