Business View Civil & Municipal - May 2023

127 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 5 Famous for its deliciously sweet corn, Taber is also home to the only sugar beet plant in Canada and is well known for its potato crops. The town even has an often repeated saying, as Mayor Andrew Prokop boasts, “If it can’t be grown in Taber, it can’t be grown anywhere!” He continues, “There is a lot of truth to that. We’re currently about 85% irrigated land, and we do have some of the most ideal growing conditions and soil. We are very blessed and fortunate to have those here.” On the processing side, there are three potato processing plants within the region, Lamb Weston, and McCains, within minutes of the city, and Cavendish in nearby Lethbridge, which the mayor indicates is due to the exceptional growing capabilities in the area. Amy Allred, Economic Development Manager shares that the Town has introduced an investment incentive bylaw, offering a tax break for new and redeveloping businesses. She explains, “For the first two years they get 100% exemption on their municipal taxes. Then 75%, 50%, and 25% over the next three years. If you are renovating or developing, you just have to increase your assessment value by 25%. That made it accessible to small standalone businesses and to large scale businesses so that everybody could be included.” Taber is also partnered with the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program, and the Rural Renewal Stream, helping to attract an additional workforce to the area. “We all know that rural areas have seen shortages in labor, and this program has been really excellent in helping the town come together and find the workers that our employers need,” Allred maintains. “It’s really helped our commercial sector start to grow. We joined the program six months ago, and so far, we have 32 candidates that have TABER , ALBERTA