By rdnewsNOW Staff

Red Deer Polytechnic and Chamber of Commerce

Growth Catalyst: new program comes to central Alberta to help drive economy

May 8, 2023 | 10:32 AM

Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) and the Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce are partnering with Mount Royal University’s (MRU) Growth Catalyst program to create a first-of-its-kind business accelerator for central Alberta.

A business accelerator is a program to give companies access to mentorship, investors, support and other educational components to help them become more stable businesses.

Growth Catalyst is a scale-up accelerator program for developing technology and service-based businesses with sales between $2-100 million, rather than start-ups, to help expand their enterprise. The program is based on the research of MRU Professor Simon Raby, Ph.D. and his team, who identified gaps for serving small to medium-sized businesses that still have exponential growth potential.

The program’s hybrid model combines in-person learning with real-time coaching and implementation, supported by a cohort of local experts. Officials say the seven-month program allows companies to reimagine, rediscover and realize new growth opportunities.

With a commitment to serving all of Alberta, program officials say their fourth cohort will focus on central Alberta, from Rocky Mountain House to Ester, and operate from RDP.

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“We are proud to partner with Mount Royal University and the Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce to support the growth and innovation of central Alberta businesses. This collaboration, combined with Red Deer Polytechnic’s education, training, and applied research opportunities in state-of-the-art facilities, will create an ecosystem that will help to ignite industrial and economic prosperity across the province,” said Richard Longtin, Associate Vice President of External Relations at RDP.

Designed for a team of up to four people, program officials say the highly subsidized, but not free, accelerator is helping drive the Alberta business economy.

“Unlocking the potential of central Alberta is an essential part of the overall success of the Albertan Economy. We are excited to be working with RDP and the Chamber to recruit companies seeking ambitious growth. We will also be collaborating on program delivery and including local innovation and scaling up experts,” said Peter Fenwick, Director of Scale-Up and Growth Programming at MRU’s Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE).

The MRU IIE says their mission is to support the development of high-impact talent essential to the continued economic prosperity of Alberta by delivering transformative community-engaged learning experiences. The IIE established the Growth Compass as a Centre of Excellence to deliver evidence-based insights, intelligence, and programming with a focus on business growth and scaling. The Growth Catalyst and Innovation Accelerator are two flagship programs that launched through the Growth Compass and now run independently within the Institute.

With funding support from Alberta Innovates, Prairies Economic Development Canada, and TD Ready Commitment, the Growth Catalyst program plans to deliver services for earlier-stage growth to 105 Alberta businesses by the summer of 2025.

“The Red Deer Chamber of Commerce is pleased to showcase the strong Entrepreneurial spirit of central Alberta,” said Scott Robinson, Chief Executive Officer of the Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce.

Businesses are being invited to apply now for a September start through the Growth Catalyst website or join an upcoming Chamber lunch and learn this spring.