Medicine Hat named Western Canada's #1 Community for Business by Alberta Venture
Published on June 2, 2011
Why the “gas city” is poised to blow up
by Geoff Morgan
Why in the name of Silicon Valley is a successful high-tech company, one with a roster of international clients, based in Medicine Hat?
The so-called "gas city," after all, is better known for its abundance of shallow natural gas wells than its tech sector, yet Auto-Star Compusystems Inc. isn't there to drill. Instead, it sells point-of-sale software for retail, pharmaceutical and grocery clients from Alaska to Trinidad. Although major Auto-Star clients, including Shoppers Drug Mart, are based in Toronto, company president Robert Symmonds says the low cost of doing business makes staying in Medicine Hat a no-brainer. People have suggested that Auto-Star move, but Symmonds isn't having any of it. "It didn't take much time to determine that it's still better to be in Medicine Hat," he says. Auto-Star is doing more than just staying put, too. The company just finalized a land purchase with the city on March 31 that will lead, it hopes, to the construction of a new 10,000-square-foot office in an area the city hopes will become a research park. Read full article at AlbertaVenture.com