Economic Trade Mission Lures a Silicon Valley company to Calgary

[Knut]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...lous-1.4055947

Good on Nenshi and the CED to be working hard on this. It would be a great way to boost the economy. Hope to see more.

This week, Moran and her team returned to visit San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

​This time she brought along Mayor Naheed Nenshi and Alberta's Economic Development Minister Deron Bilous.

Nenshi said one company is prepared to set up in Calgary.

"This particular company was someone who had never really even heard of Calgary last month and over the course of the last three weeks, we met them here," he said. "They came up to visit. They started scoping out places. And when we met them yesterday, they said: 'Have you got the lease with you so that we can sign it?'

"Business moves fast here."

[darockwilder]

Guess that Moran got a brain.

[PepsiFree]

Curious to see who it is (since they mentioned it was significant enough to have a ribbon cutting).

Calgary could potentially be a software hub, but I think there would be a shortage of developers before it ever reached that status, so it's important that local universities have substantial programs in related fields. Still, it's an industry worth getting into in a serious way (and it's the exact thing Notley should be pushing hard for instead of general diversification). This is a small win.

I'd like to see even more effort put in.

[nik-]

Plot twist: It's Uber.

[polak]

I can't wait to apply for a job at Geocities

[Raekwon]

I heard its the Pied piper company known for their compression algorithms.

[Looch City]

And who's paying for Nenshi's trip down to San Francisco? I'll tell you, the tax payers!!

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

And who's paying for Nenshi's trip down to San Francisco? I'll tell you, the tax payers!!

No public money for billionaires!!!

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Curious to see who it is (since they mentioned it was significant enough to have a ribbon cutting).

Calgary could potentially be a software hub, but I think there would be a shortage of developers before it ever reached that status, so it's important that local universities have substantial programs in related fields. Still, it's an industry worth getting into in a serious way (and it's the exact thing Notley should be pushing hard for instead of general diversification). This is a small win.

I'd like to see even more effort put in.

I have absolutely no idea but am going to speculate and wonder whether it is related to any of the Quarry Park chatter that has been ongoing in these forums over the past few days.

[polak]

How big of a company would it have to be for others to follow suit?

[FlameOn]

U.S. travel ban a factor

Uncertainty created by proposed travel bans sought by the Trump administration is also a factor for some companies.

Nenshi said some officials said this week they're unconcerned by what they see as temporary measures, while others are quite worried.

"There are companies that fundamentally believe that their business model in the United States is at risk and they need to get ahead of the curve and think about maybe Canada as a place for what they call near-shoring.So the spectrum is very, very, very wide on this," said Nenshi.

This week's trade mission has wrapped up. But Moran said this won't be CED's last trip to northern California trying to convince companies to open an office in Calgary.

"We're going to be back here several times this year and I know that we'll have more yes's during the year, for sure," said Moran.

Thanks Donald Trump??

[shermanator]

Wait, I thought all levels of government were out to kill jobs in this city?

[puckedoff]

^ They've already killed our jobs, now they are inviting other companies here so that they can kill theirs too!

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by nik-

Plot twist: It's Uber.

Uber was created by Calgarians

[MRCboicgy]

That's interesting. Apparently at the SXSW conference, Hootsuite was holding Canada parties in efforts to recruit tech people up north.

[Ozy_Flame]

Isn't Hoot Suite from Vancouver?

Either way, we can blame this terrible news on the lefties, Trudeau, and the carbon tax, by gum.

[MRCboicgy]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Isn't Hoot Suite from Vancouver?
.

Exactly. Canada attracting tech talent from big US Hubs. (SV, Austin, etc) because of US policies

[topfiverecords]

Hope it's Bachmanity Insanity.

[Northendzone]

Alta-vista

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

Alta-vista

Lycos