Companies across the West hoping for a little northern exposure are preparing to head to Edmonton for a special conference designed to foster business opportunities and partnerships in the Canadian North.
“Very rarely do Northerners get to gather in this magnitude,” says Dale Monaghan, project manager for Meet the North: Share the Vision conference and exposition.
“As a business venture where the north and south are getting together, this is very unique.”
Resource companies are joining tourism promoters, provincial health authorities and aboriginal leaders in the April 9-11 conference held at the Shaw Conference Centre to talk about topics ranging from economic development, sustainable communities, and why northern development is important to the South.
Northern Canadians have similar challenges and opportunities in the business world as their southern counterparts, says Monaghan, but greater geographic differences prohibit more frequent meetings.
“When you’re this far apart, it takes a forum like this to bring people together to dialogue, strike deals and memorandums of understanding and agreement,” he says.
“Edmonton is hosting it because it’s very interested in ensuring the world knows that we are the gateway to the North . . . and that we are the service provider of choice in terms of being a conduit to southern markets.”
Calgary companies heading to the event include ATCO Frontec Corp., the Calgary Airport Authority and Corporate Express Airline. Pierre Alvarez, president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, will also address the convention.
More than 500 delegates are expected to attend, with about 160 exhibits.
The conference was last held just over two years ago, but Monaghan says plans call for Meet the North to now be held on alternating years with its northern counterpart, Prospects North — a major business and investment conference held in Yellowknife in the fall.
Web Watch:
www.meetthenorth.com/conference.html
