Red Deer economic development officer Cyril Cooper has long touted the city as a great place to do business.

Now he’s got a glossy magazine with which to persuade reticent investors.

Alberta Venture magazine has declared Red Deer the best community for business in the province. It made this determination after judging 25 cities, towns and rural municipalities, using a variety of criteria.

The resulting rankings and analysis appear in Alberta Venture’s June issue (available online at www.albertaventure.com).

Cooper said he was pleased to see the recognition, particularly in a magazine with provincewide exposure. The article has already been discussed by the Red Deer Regional Economic Development — a partnership involving the city, Red Deer County, the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce and Red Deer College — and will likely be included in materials used to promote the region, he said.

Red Deer earned 18.5 out of a possible 25 points in Alberta Venture’s assessment, which looked at costs, taxes and regulation, markets, labour and special considerations.

Lethbridge was second with 18 points, followed by Strathcona County (17.5), Edmonton (17), Medicine Hat (16.5), Okotoks (16.5), Alberta’s International Region south of Edmonton (16), the Municipal District of Rocky View (16), St. Albert (16) and Fort Saskatchewan (15.5).

Lacombe ranked 12th with 14.5 points and Olds was 15th with 13.5 points.

Alberta Venture praised Red Deer for its central location on the Calgary-Edmonton corridor, pointing out that the city serves a trading area of about 200,000 people and has access to a potential market of more than two million.

It noted that the community is a service hub for the energy sector but also benefits from its proximity to the petrochemical plants to the east, and from strong local manufacturing, agricultural, food processing and construction sectors.

The magazine gave Red Deer 4.5 out of a possible five points in the labour category. Among its considerations were number of people within a one-hour commute and their education levels, post-secondary institutions, the unemployment rate and skill shortages.

The city earned four points for market access, based on the size of its trading area and rate of growth, average household income, access to transportation and industrial clusters.

Red Deer also received four points in the special considerations category, which looked at economic indicators, capital projects, economic diversity and amenities like arts festivals. Alberta Venture pointed specifically to recreational opportunities available to city residents through the local trail system, Bower Ponds and Canyon Ski Area.

In the cost category, Red Deer was issued 3.5 points. Among the items assessed were lease rates, land costs, utility rates and housing prices.

Finally, Red Deer was issued 2.5 points for the taxes, regulation and bureaucracy that local businesses are subject to. The absence of a municipal business tax here was noted.

Alberta Venture said it based its scores on available data, and input from municipalities, business associations, commercial real estate agents, developers and landlords, and business people.

Alberta Venture is distributed throughout Alberta and has a readership of 244,000, according to the magazine. It is published by Edmonton-based Venture Publishing Inc.

Contact Harley Richards at hrichards@reddeeradvocate.com