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Originally Posted by Table 5
Absolutely, I think this is a viable exercise even if just for the optics and building long-term momentum in terms of attracting others. It would be great if Calgary could at least get on some sort of public short list by Amazon, or be mentioned in US/Canadian media. It may not mean that Amazon is coming here, but it could signal to other companies that we're a viable option for things other than traditional O/G.
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With Amazon being a pipe-dream, we are better positioned to help fast-growth small or medium-sized tech companies expand their Canadian/Western Canada/Western North America operations, especially based on available talent, office space, and geography. Ideally, we would be attracting energy management, agritech, construction, industrial IoT, engineering, or transportation logistics, something that can utilize the local talent and knowledge base. If we got net new / unconventional industry companies moving in, that would be a plus (e.g. Digital arts, SaaS platforms, non-profits, etc.)
The early/growth venture capital financing stages primed for scalability is a better sell, as among the tens of thousands of firms in that stage of the maturity cycle, many are still going under the radar from a public image standpoint.
Have the City, CED and CCC help three or four of these types of companies move to Calgary and I think we have some serious traction in the right direction. This is, of course, in addition to local, grassroots companies taking shape on their own and not enticing existing companies to move/build operations in Calgary.