The Lethbridge and District Exhibition is one of the many organizations that is set to benefit from new provincial funding.
The Alberta government has announced a one-time cash injection of over $7.4 million for the seven regional agricultural societies in the province.
In addition to Lethbridge, funding will support groups in Medicine Hat, Olds, Red Deer, Grande Prairie, Camrose and Lloydminster.
“It’s hard to overstate the impact regional agricultural societies have on rural Alberta. From event organizing to infrastructure upkeep, they energize folks and bring communities together,” says Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation RJ Sigurdson.
“This funding will ensure our regional agriculture societies are able to keep up their good work and continue to be pillars of their communities.”
The new funding includes over $4 million to distributed among the seven societies to help them weather cost pressures and plan for the future. Additionally, the announcement includes a one-time investment of $2.87 million to help business transformation projects, along with funding set aside for a third-party consultant to help.
The province notes this latest boost is on top of continued annual total funding of $2.8 million for the regional ag societies through the Agricultural Societies Grant Program.
“Thank you to the Government of Alberta for its continued support of Regional Agricultural Societies and Lethbridge & District Exhibition. Ag Societies benefit the communities they serve, enhancing the quality of life for Albertans, while supporting the critical role agriculture plays in our economy,” says Lloyd Brierley, the LDE board chair.
“This strong support from our provincial government allows LDE to improve and evolve, while supporting the programming needed to cultivate the agriculture community. It’s this partnership that will help to make us successful and sustainable for another 100 years.”
Last year, the Alberta government hired a consulting firm to do a “sustainability assessment of the societies and provide recommendations to address their financial struggles”. The province points out that “those recommendations helped inform this funding and the next steps”.
Officials add that the seven regional ag societies in Alberta collectively host over 39,000 events and activities every year.
-with files from Galen Hartviksen
