City of Martensville

Innovation in economic development marketing:
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How a Small Community is Using Data to Capture Investor Interest

Dave Parsell

September 10, 2024

Challenge

Martensville, Saskatchewan, is a growing city located just north of Saskatoon. Known for its family-friendly atmosphere and expanding residential developments, Martensville faced the challenge of effectively communicating its economic and logistical advantages to site selectors, businesses, and potential residents.

The city needed a dynamic solution to highlight its strengths, including its strategic location, skilled workforce, and growing market, while also engaging visitors on its website. As Martensville continues to grow, it needed to present its economic data in a way that stood out in a competitive regional market.

Solution

To tackle this challenge, Martensville partnered with Localintel to embed two powerful data visualization tools—the Community Profile and Logistics and Accessibility Advantages—into their website. These tools provide interactive, real-time data to help Martensville present its key economic indicators and logistical advantages in an accessible and engaging way, ensuring potential investors and businesses can quickly assess the city’s potential.

Community Profile Tool:

This tool allows visitors to explore Martensville’s demographic and economic landscape, offering detailed insights into the local population, workforce, and housing market. The Community Profile includes:

Economic Dashboard: This dashboard offers dynamic data on key economic indicators such as population growth, employment rates, and household income. These metrics help illustrate Martensville’s economic stability and growth potential, providing critical insights for investors looking to understand the city’s economic environment.

Workforce Dashboard: This dashboard provides insights into education levels, industries of employment, and occupation distribution among Martensville’s residents. It is essential for demonstrating the availability of a skilled workforce, which is a key consideration for businesses assessing whether the local labor pool meets their needs.

Household Dashboard: This dashboard focuses on household size, income distribution, and living standards in Martensville. The dashboard offers valuable insights for businesses and developers evaluating the local consumer base, helping them understand the purchasing power and economic habits of residents.

Livability Dashboard: This dashboard highlights key quality-of-life factors, such as housing costs, climate, and commute times, giving businesses and residents a clear view of what makes Martensville an attractive place to live and work. The livability data supports the city’s positioning as a desirable location for both businesses seeking to relocate and families looking for a high quality of life.

Logistics and Accessibility Advantages Tool:

The Logistics and Accessibility Advantages tool for Martensville includes five advanced dynamic maps, each highlighting key aspects of the city’s logistical strengths.

Airport Network: This map displays major airports within 2, 4, and 8-hour drive times from Martensville, including the Saskatoon International Airport, which provides both domestic and international connections. This feature emphasizes Martensville’s easy access to global markets, making it an attractive location for businesses that rely on air travel and freight services.

Major Road Network: This map showcases key cities and regional hubs within 2, 4, and 8-hour drive times, illustrating how Martensville is well-connected by road to major urban centers, including Saskatoon. It demonstrates the city’s strategic position for businesses needing efficient road access to local and national markets.

Rail and Intermodal Network: The rail network map highlights the proximity of Martensville to Saskatoon’s key rail lines and intermodal facilities, which are crucial for industries reliant on rail transport. This feature illustrates Martensville’s connectivity to national and regional rail networks, offering businesses cost-effective solutions for shipping bulk goods.

Broadband Network: This map offers an overview of the region’s broadband infrastructure, showcasing the availability of high-speed internet services in Martensville. This is vital for modern businesses, particularly those in technology-driven sectors or those that depend on a remote workforce, ensuring Martensville is fully equipped to support digital connectivity.

Results

Since embedding Localintel’s tools, Martensville has transformed its website into a vital resource for site selectors, investors, and new businesses. The interactive nature of the data tools has increased user engagement on the website, allowing visitors to explore Martensville’s advantages in greater detail. By presenting real-time, easily navigable data, Martensville has successfully positioned itself as a competitive, data-driven location for business investment and growth.

More Information

· Martensville webpage: Why Martensville For Business

· Localintel’s catalog of data visualization tools: www.ecdev.org/products

· Request a demo with Localintel: www.ecdev.org/demo

Is your community ready to showcase its strengths?

Schedule a demo today to learn how our data visualization tools can help highlight yourlocation’s advantages.

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