After nearly one year of vacancy, the Town has filled a key position.
Quincy Brown, who comes from the Calgary Regional Partnership, started his journey as Okotoks’ economic development manager on June 12.
“I was always drawn to Okotoks for a couple of reasons,” said Brown. “First was just the bones of what Okotoks is, and also everybody you talk to who’s from Okotoks has nothing but amazing things to say about Okotoks.”
Brown was no stranger to the town before deciding to apply for the position. His wife, Dr. Meghan Lawless, has been a dentist at Drake Landing Dental for the past five years.
He said they spent a lot of time in Okotoks, taking in activities and frequenting businesses in town, and he developed a passion for the community.
“There’s just a spirit and a sense that people are proud to be from Okotoks, and it’s something you don’t get in a lot of communities,” said Brown. “I wanted to be a part of that energy.”
As part of the Calgary Regional Partnership, Brown headed the urban regional planning division. As a planner, he comes to the table without traditional economic development philosophies, he said.
“I approach economic development from a different perspective, and base things from a place-making approach,” said Brown. “In helping communities become great places, and building communities people enjoy and are excited about, inadvertently also it’s a benefit to business development, business retention, relationship-building, and just getting people excited about being in place.”
He said Okotoks already has the backbones of a great community and the Town has developed a good vision for the future, so he intends to figure out how to work toward and achieve the vision for business and tourism.
It’s about getting businesses to grow and stay in town, making people excited to come to Okotoks, he said.
“I’m really excited about it, because I feel that we’re at this time where there’s the willingness to innovate and be creative and do things differently,” said Brown.
He’s been meeting with different committees, like the post-secondary committee and the Olde Towne Okotoks group, over the past few weeks to get a sense of what’s happening within the town, he said.
“It’s really refreshing, the excitement people have in town, even the small business owners in the downtown,” said Brown. “You can tell there’s a culture that people are wanting to work hard and get things done.”
Another reason he was drawn to the town was for the opportunity to work with Okotoks CAO Elaine Vincent, he said. He’d worked with her in Red Deer and said he appreciated her style.
“I was just blown away by her leadership and vision, and just thought, what a great opportunity to come to a community that not only is a great little community but also has a very strong leaders and a very strong vision for where we want to go as a town,” said Brown.
Vincent said Brown brings a lot of municipal experience to the table, and is effective at establishing key relationships in communities, which is what is needed in downtown Okotoks. He is also a great complement to current economic development specialist Alexandra Ross and fills a major gap in the Town, she said.
“The economic development manager has some critical projects facing him that ensure the long-term sustainability of the town,” said Vincent.
She said the first goal is to focus on downtown and work with current business owners to see what’s working or not working well. The Town needs to improve its own practices in support of the needs for downtown, she said.
The next step will be to create and market a unique identity for the Town across Alberta and Canada, to help recruit and attract businesses and people to town.
“It’s how we help build innovation back into the town, making that part of our identity, and recruit and bring in businesses that support that innovation theme,” said Vincent.
