nice. On the weekends, if you want to go
quad riding through the forests or in the
mountains, that’s something you can do. It’s
right there.”
The timeline for a lot of the development
now stretches out for the next five years,
during which King estimates that the
county population will swell upwards of
35,000. A new downtown section is being
assembled from the ground up – something
that he believes will continue to draw a flow
of young professionals eager to mix their
working careers with highly livable
surroundings.
In fact, he’s living proof of how entranced
newcomers to the area canbecome.
“It’s going to be a very vibrant economy
here. I think we’re going to continue to see
this as a very vibrant community,” he said.
“I ’ve worked in a wide variety of
municipalities over the years. This is my
first real rural municipality and it’s
amazing. The growth that’s here and the
vision of the council that’s in place here, the
elected officials, they’re all for it and they’re
super supportive of us achieving this.
“It’s exciting. Every day I get up and I’m
anxious to get to work and see what’s going
tohappen. I just can’t evendescribe it.”
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
County of Grande Prairie No. 1
WHAT:
Municipality that surrounds the
City of Grand Prairie, comprised of
multiple towns, villages and
hamlets that are home to 21,157
residents, according to a 2012
county census
WHERE:
Northwestern Alberta, shares its
western border with the province
of British Columbia
WEBSITE:
July-August 2014
| BusinessWorld | 31
