The City of Lacombe has updated a bylaw that intends to provide a clear set of responsibilities and expectations when it comes to economic development initiatives spearheaded by community groups who receive support funding from the City.

The bylaw update is intended to provide high-level guidance to Echo Lacombe and other community groups who receive support from the City of Lacombe. It provides for a heightened level of accountability as the groups are asked to report back on their progress annually while aligning their initiatives to the Council’s strategic plan.

Manager of Community Economic Development and Echo Lacombe Association Board Member Guy Lapointe says this update is important to reflect the ever-changing nature of our community and the groups who serve it.

“When we wrote this bylaw back in 2010, there was no Echo Lacombe, so the very fact that there is Echo Lacombe that have been doing a number of these things, they report back to council in October as it is. This is kind of just formalizing the process that is in place, and clarifying the roles a little bit.”

Lapointe says while they will be following the city's economic strategic plan which is laid out in a four-year span, they'll also be making annual check-ins with the different groups, which includes Echo Lacombe.

“The bylaw is one thing, it sort of sets up the responsibilities for both parties, but then they’ll be an agreement on an annual basis that sort of provides them with some annual direction if you will, because the strategic plan is set four years out, and obviously there’s changes and nuances that happen within each calendar year.”

Community groups like Echo Lacombe spearhead a variety of programs, including the Downtown storefront Enhancement program and the business partnership fund.