Monthly Archives: January 2013

Hotel proposed for north side will be a Marriott

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Red Deer is poised to become a Marriott community.

The developer behind a hotel proposed for the north end of Oriole Park has confirmed that it will operate under Marriott’s TownPlace Suites banner.

Toby Lampard, who is president of L-7 Inc. — the company that owns the 6822 66th St. lot where the hotel is to be built — spoke to Red Deer’s municipal planning commission on Wednesday during an application related to the project. The hotel had received development approval from the commission in August, but Lampard was seeking to make several changes to the plan. These included the addition of a swimming pool.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/auxupft

‘Revolutionary’ plant promises to turn garbage into fuel

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A Red Deer company wants to turn local garbage into fuel — and it insists it’s got the technology to do so.

Blue Horizon Bio-Diesel Inc. conducted a demonstration in a Blindman Industrial Park shop on Wednesday, feeding a mix of municipal waste, sawdust, used motor oil and a special “catalyst” into a scaled-down plant, which churned out a small quantity of diesel fuel a short time later.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/av4vk29

Canada’s high credit ratings entice global investors

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With the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and fiscal challenges in the U.S. casting a pall over the world, investors flocked to Canada as a safe haven last year.

“Money is coming to Canada and for good reason,” says Grant Berry, managing director and head of government finance at RBC Capital Markets. “Typically when international markets buckle a little bit, that’s when you see more participants come to Canada.”

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/af82m6c

Author speaks on Fort McMurray identity

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“If you’re off by yourself, the normal rules do not apply,” said Malcolm Gladwell, inaugural keynote presenter of the Northern Insights Speaker Series, Wednesday at MacDonald Island Park. “You may not want to be as isolated as you are, but it’s a gift.

“You’re not a suburb of New York,” he continued, explaining the region is free to grow and shape its image without external influences pressing in. The highway that separates Fort McMurray from the rest of Alberta may be a nuisance more often than not, but it also provides a sort of cultural buffer, isolating, but protecting the region within.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/amrp9ug

Peace Wapiti division completes electoral ward review

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After a lengthy review process, Peace Wapiti School Division has finalized changes to the electoral wards in the school division.

The changes, which mostly affect Ward 7, help to reflect a shift in population that has occurred since Peace Wapiti School Division was created as an amalgamation of regional school boards.

The Ward 7 changes essentially split up a large portion of the City of Grande Prairie’s population, which helps elected trustees represent the constituents on a more even basis, balancing population density with physical land area.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/as7cfcn

Space shortage continues to be an issue in public schools

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The Grande Prairie Public School District is hoping the upcoming provincial budget bring some good news to alleviate the space crunch in local schools.

Superintendent Carol Ann MacDonald said the board is hoping that when the provincial budget is released in March, there will be money set aside to help build a new school in Grande Prairie.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/anpcjku

Neighbourhood associations help create connections

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Building a stronger sense of community, getting to know your neighbours and working together are some of the goals of Grande Prairie Neighbourhood Associations.

The official launch of the program was rolled out on Thursday at the Royal Canadian Legion in front of a crowd of more than 60 people including many elected city officials and enforcements services personnel.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/aa3tadw

 

Real GDP grows in Canada

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CALGARY — Real gross domestic product in Canada grew 0.3 per cent in November, following a 0.1 per cent rise in October, according to Statistics Canada.

The federal agency reported Thursday that most major industrial sectors increased production in November. Goods production increased 0.6 per cent while the output of service industries rose 0.1 per cent.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/b6dcbh5

Ten steps to build a business with almost no money

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When I started my first company, I was 21 years old and still in college. I had absolutely no money.

If I did have any money, it instantly got spent on beer. (Didn’t I just say I was a 21-year-old college student?)

Fast-forward three short years, and I now run one of the top five fitness services on the Internet. I’ve got all the money I need, and I spend my time either working on innovating new products, or travelling and experiencing everything the world has to offer. I never got VC or angel funding, and I never got a giant cash infusion from an investor, a bank loan or anyone else, in any capacity.

Read more: http://tinyurl.com/ae3skkc