The second-ever CEO of Edmonton Global said she is returning to Edmonton from the United Kingdom because the current moment is pivotal for the regional economic development agency.
"I wouldn't be coming back, and I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think there was a very real, very tangible opportunity," Daryn Edgar told Taproot. "Edmonton Global isn't a startup anymore … They're now at a stage where they need to start scaling, and like any scaleup company, what got you here won't necessarily get you there."
Edmonton Global was established in 2017 to drive foreign investment into the region and its 14 member municipalities, as well as to help the region's companies build linkages with the rest of the world. Malcolm Bruce, the organization's first CEO, will depart as of Oct. 16. Last year, Bruce and the organization spent six months listening to member municipalities after five shared plans to leave. None of those five municipalities has changed its plans, and another has since said it wants to leave, too.
Edgar said she will meet with each member municipality, "whether they're departing or not," and that she's openly optimistic about refreshing relationships. "I'm going to be new to them, and all I can really do at this point is introduce myself, recommit to Edmonton Global, and try to learn about them."
She said that beyond the Edmonton region, the organization needs to take advantage of what's happening in the world.
"I think this moment is about Edmonton's readiness, but it's also about the world's readiness," Edgar said. "In a way, it's related to what we've all been through over the last couple years. COVID kind of set the stage, but some of the other international instabilities that have happened (have changed things, too). For me, when I started coming back to Edmonton more frequently in the last couple years, that's what I saw. I saw that Edmonton had a lot of what the world needed, which is stability and quality."
Edgar grew up in Edmonton before moving to Calgary and then England, working at global corporations as well as scaleups, largely in tech, energy, and finance. She will join Edmonton Global on Oct. 17 after 18 years in the U.K., where she moved in 2007 to become the director of global operations for WellPoint Systems, a now-absorbed software company for the energy and finance industries.
"I was that entrepreneur, with WellPoint, that moved markets to do international work," she said. "I've been that person that is Canadian by background (who was) trying to go global and faced all those challenges."
Daryn Edgar starts as the CEO of Edmonton Global on Oct. 17, three days ahead of Alberta's municipal elections. One of her plans is to meet with each of Edmonton Global's 14 member municipalities, including the six who have voted to depart from the economic development agency. (Supplied)
Edgar said she built a relationship with the High Commission of Canada in the U.K., which helped her sharpen her economic development skills.
Edmonton Global similarly shares knowledge with companies entering a new market, whether they are coming to the region from abroad or from the region to other countries. The economic developer has supported the American Ciba Health, which opened its Canadian headquarters here in 2023, and the Australian PainChek, which officially began North American operations here in September. For its outbound work, Edmonton Global partners on sector-specific delegations to foreign markets, such as one to Japan for the food and beverage sector earlier this year, and another to the Middle East for the life sciences sector this coming February.
Edgar said the relationships she built abroad can open international doors for the region, as the U.K. is an established gateway to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
She said almost all sectors of the region's economy have untapped potential for growth in foreign markets. She added she will begin her work by reviewing Edmonton Global's industry strategy to find specific opportunities.
"One of the first things I'm going to do is take a look at the industry strategy, very specifically and very directly, and look for the assets that can be used to scale," she said. "The ones that have had success more recently are probably the ones that would carry on and that we would focus on, but also, I think Edmonton has some unique industries or capabilities that can be used as leading sectors."
Edgar said the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute is a unique regional strength. As a research institute, Amii is not a business, but an enabler of other businesses thanks to its programs for companies exploring AI and researchers looking to commercialize it.
Even outside of Amii, the Edmonton region is now known for its strength in AI. This year, Nanoprecise Sci Corp raised US$38 million, Jobber once again landed on the The Globe and Mail's list of the top growing companies in Canada, and Artificial Agency raised US$16 million.
But Edmonton Global's 14 member municipalities have different economic strengths. Evidenced by some choosing to leave, not all members felt their membership dues brought the needed return on investment. The six who intend to quit Edmonton Global are Strathcona County, Fort Saskatchewan, Devon, Sturgeon County, Parkland County, and Leduc County.
Edgar said the needs of all member municipalities (which the organization calls stakeholders) are on her radar.
"Edmonton Global (stakeholders) want to be heard: They want the opportunity to participate in the relationship and collaborate, they want transparency," she said. "They want to be appreciated for what they have that's unique."
Edgar starts as CEO just three days before Alberta's municipal elections, on Oct. 20, so the councils deciding whether the organization is worth the cost may be different than the ones in the past.