A new joint venture between local business and government aims to boost economic development in the Altona and Rhineland area.

Brad Iverson, General Manager for Sun Valley Co-op, chairs the group that was spearheaded by six other business leaders in the region.

He said it's becoming more challenging to keep small towns viable as cities continue to grow and create increased competition.

"So we want to be pooling resources to try and create and maintain a healthy community, and a big part of that is having a strong economic base," he noted.

Iverson explained that while the goal of this new group is to create economic growth within the region, members will also look to stimulate the economy and support the creation, expansion, retention, and attraction of local businesses.

"We are business leaders, we are running businesses within the trading area and we know that we need growth. We need to create ways where people want to move to our areas (and) they can get jobs or the services they need. As other centres get bigger it becomes harder, it becomes more competitive, and we need to make sure we create that same stimulation and we provide the same services as a lot of other communities so that way we'll be sustainable into the future."

Councils for the Town of Altona and Municipality of Rhineland have signed a two-year shared agreement to provide partial funding for the group. Members also hope to find additional funding through various grant opportunities.

The board itself will be completely volunteer-based and include a representative from the Town of Altona and Municipality of Rhineland.

"That part really excites me," said Iverson, "because this is going to be a joint venture between towns, R.M.s and the business community and I think that's one of the keys to making this a success."

He added there will also be an ongoing dialogue with local Chambers of Commerce and other community organizations throughout the area.

"Our hope is to work with those other groups. This isn't something where we're going to be competing against them."

And while this initiative is so new that members have only held one meeting to get to know each other, Iverson said work has begun to fully establish the group. He explained the first order of business is to hire an economic development officer, at which point members will move forward with constructing a strategic plan on how to move forward in achieving its goals.