Alberta SouthWest receives national award recognition for the second year in a row

Mayor of Fort Macleod and AlbertaSW Chair Shawn Patience with Bev Thornton 

Alberta SouthWest press release

Alberta SouthWest Regional Economic Development Alliance won two Marketing Canada Awards at the Economic Developers Association of Canada (EDAC) Annual Conference, held in St John’s Newfoundland. The winning projects excelled from among 155 entries submitted by organizations across Canada. The Marketing Canada Awards competition recognizes excellence in community marketing, which is an integral part of economic development.


AlbertaSW was “best of the best” in two categories:

• Web-based Community Outreach: GPS-Guided Driving Tours and Smartphone App
• Single Advertisement: Regional Display Panel

Mayor of Crowsnest Pass/AlbertaSW GPS project committee member Bruce Decoux with Bev Thornton

The “Web-based Community Outreach” Award recognized the expertise of the GyPSy Tour Guide Company of Banff, in partnership with AlbertaSW to create new GPS-guided driving tours that offer the fun and exciting experience of driving around the region with a “tour guide in your pocket”. The finished product contains over 50,000 words of researched content transformed into professional audio narrative, guided by GPS technology, and tells travellers the stories of featured points of interest along 1,400 km of highways and byways in AlbertaSW. Users can rent GyPSy Guide units at selected locations or can download the App from Google Play or The App Store.

The “Single Advertisement” Award recognized the excellent display panel installed in Waterton National Park, which features a map of AlbertaSW, inviting park visitors to “Explore More” and visit the interesting communities surrounding the park. This large project design, completed by Twist Marketing, includes information about the “SouthWest Connect” Wi-Fi network, and acknowledges our partnerships with GyPSy Tour Guide, Crown of the Continent Geotourism Council, Cowboy Trail and Top Ten Scenic Drives.

“Alberta SouthWest is delighted to be recognized at a national level for the second year in a row,” says Bev Thornton, Executive Director Alberta SouthWest Regional Economic Development Alliance. “It’s truly amazing what can happen when rural municipalities, towns, villages and business partners put their efforts toward common goals.”

MD of Willow Creek Councillor and AlbertaSW Board rep Phil Wakelin with Bev Thornton

In 2012 Alberta SouthWest received five Marketing Canada Awards from Economic Developers Association of Canada and was named winner of the EDAC Cup, which is the top recognition of the annual awards program.