Benefits of Locating Your Business in Wetaskiwin "The Best Place to Be!" QUALITY OF LIFE The City of Wetaskiwin provides all amenities and quality of life values of a modern urban/rural center, while at the same time being within 35 minutes of Edmonton. Our housing cost is 15-25% lower than large City's and their direct suburbs. Wetaskiwin - City in Motion has additional advantages and is the "The Best Place to Be". Some of the reasons are: No Machinery and Equipment Tax No Business Tax Development Incentives Policy Low Land Costs Good Access to labour in a non union environment Excellent access to major transportation routes, railway and airports Quality of Life for employees TRUCK TRANSPORTATION ACCESS The City is located just 8 miles east of Highway 2 being the Edmonton-Calgary corridor, which provides excellent access for shipping to markets. The Highway 2 links from Mexico through to Alaska running the western United States and of course Alberta. Highway 2 links to the TransCanada and Yellowhead highways to provide easy access across Canada and especially to western ports. Highway 13, which runs east and west through Wetaskiwin, also provides direct access through Saskatoon to Saskatchewan and Manitoba. As Wetaskiwin is geographically centered in the province the network of provincial primary and secondary highways provide quick and easy access to and from all Alberta regions.     Map 1   Map 2   More Maps AIR TRANSPORTATION The City of Wetaskiwin operates a local airport, which is planned for upgrading bringing the present runway from 3,500 ft. in length to approximately 5,000 ft. For domestic service, the Edmonton International Airport is located northwest of Wetaskiwin and can be easily accessed by a four-lane highway less than 25 minutes away. Upgrades to the Edmonton International Airport in the range of $200,000,000 are underway and will improve the service to and from central Alberta. RAIL TRANSPORTATION CP Rail has their main line between Edmonton and Calgary running through Wetaskiwin to provide the alternative of shipping by rail should the alternative be desired. The nearest CP Intermodal Yard is located in Edmonton approximately 35 miles northwest of the community. LABOUR The City of Wetaskiwin draws on a large pool of labour which consists of more than 785,000 people within 40 miles and 40 minutes travel time. About 30 to 40 percent of employees commute to Wetaskiwin from surrounding communities. Aside from the public sector, labour in the area is mostly non-union; including Home Hardware's Western Canada Distribution Centre. Many people in Wetaskiwin and region are from a rural background and bring with them an excellent work ethic. This rural labour force generally provides very dependable employees. UTILITY SUPPLY The City of Wetaskiwin owns and operates the water and sewer systems. The automated water treatment plant is located 8 miles east of the City where it draws water from Coal Lake. The water is then piped into the City reservoirs for distribution. The Water Treatment plant is designed to provide 50% increase in volume over present use. The City operates the system to ensure high quality water at competitive rates. The City of Wetaskiwin also owns and operates the sanitary landfill which is located north-west of the City about 6.5 kilometers from the subject property. The landfill has approximately 25 to 30 years in life remaining. A recent engineering study reported that it is in the best long term interest of the City to continue to operate the landfill. A contracted operator collects solid waste within the City. Commercial customers deal directly with the approved waste collection company based on rates agreed to between the City and the approved waste contractor. The City operates an excellent recycling depot that will accept paper, cardboard, glass, etc. The natural gas supplier is Atco Gas Ltd. The Public Utilities Board controls the rates. The rates are based on supply and demand of natural gas. The electricity supplier is UtiliCorp. The Public Utilities Board controls the rates. The rates are based on supply and demand of electric power. The telephone service supplier is Telus Communications who recently amalgamated with BC Telephones. TAXES 1. PROPERTY TAX Currently, the City is on the market value system of assessment. The 2001 commercial mill rate is 24.3088 per on thousand dollars of assessment. 2. BUSINESS TAXES The City of Wetaskiwin has NO Business Tax at the present time and has no plans to implement any type of business tax in future. 3. MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT TAXES The City of Wetaskiwin has NO Machinery and Equipment Tax. The City of Wetaskiwin pioneered the cancellation of Machinery and Equipment taxes in 1991. This provides a great advantage to our industrial operators.   For further details, feel free to contact the people below: Wetaskiwin City Manager: Tony Goode Phone: (780) 361- 4410 Email: Wetaskiwin Development Manager: Randy Richards Phone: (780) 361- 4433 Email: