Business View - January 2015 103
real falls. It’s a nice, steady, predictable, stable pattern
of growth and it seems to be working very well for the
region.”
County population – which doesn’t factor in the sepa-
rately governed city of Lethbridge – has indeed shown
little movement since the arrival of the 21st century.
Lethbridge County had 9,930 residents at the time
of the 2001 federal census, then ticked up slightly to
10,302 in 2006 (a 3.7 percent rise) before a slight
drop to 10,061 at the time of the 2011 count (a 1.9
percent decline).
Meanwhile, the city of Lethbridge had a population of
83,517 in 2011, up 11.9 percent from 2006.
However, Ebel said those figures are particularly de-
ceiving as they relate to business growth, because the
county draws from the city labor market and renders
the populations “interchangeable.”
Additionally, though he concedes new business inqui-
ries received by the county are labeled “sexy,” he’s
more likely to measure success from existing compa-
nies that decide to put down long-term roots.
In 2014 alone, he said, five resident companies moved
into the next phase of expansion plans or added ca-
pacity, including the province’s largest cheese factory
– which is located within the county and both doubled
production volume and boosted its staff by a third.
“We are really pleased at what we’re seeing here,”
Ebel said. “Does this splash across the newspapers or
anything like that? Not really. But for the people in the
know, and that’s my job, it’s a very good indicator that
things are going well. From our perspective, it’s more
about what our businesses are actually doing, and the
main trend that I’m seeing is expansion.”
The reason for the commitment uptick, Ebel said, is as
simple as, well… simplicity.
“The short answer is we’re a good place to do busi-
ness,” he said.
“The county has a very pro-business attitude. When
we get an inquiry, we will look at every possible way of
INFRASTRUCTURE
