Coalhurst branding project approved

Posted on December 5, 2024 by Sunny South News

By Nikki Jamieson
Sunny South News

Coalhurst town council has officially approved funding for major rebranding projects in 2025.

During their regular Nov. 19 meeting, Coalhurst town council received a formal funding request for the town branding and website redesign projects.

In advance of major anniversaries for the town, the council has previous endorsed rebranding projects for the community’s aesthetic and for a new town website. 

According to an October memo to council, the estimated cost of the town branding project is $17,000, and the developing a hybrid-designed website is expected to be between $23,000 – $45,000. As such, town administration has put forth a funding request of $60,000 to these projects, coming from the town’s Operational Projects Reserve.

Christy Henning, director of community development for the town, said the reason why this ask was coming to council now and not in budget deliberations is so they can apply for a Northern and Regional Economic Development (NRED) program grant. The grant application’s deadline was Nov. 29, and “time is just not of the essence”.

When asked by Coun. Deborah Florence why the ask was for $60,000, town CAO Karlene Betteridge said that amount was “the sum of both projects together”, or a middle-range estimate for both the branding project and the website project.

“That would be the mid-range for kind of quotes that we’ve received,” said Betteridge. “It provides us with growth but meets the minimum needs as well. So that all encompassing budget is both two separate projects, which would be branding, which is done by professional branders, and website, which is done by a professional website company, and both those tie in together to make a whole.”

Additionally, as the NERD grant funds projects with a minimum cost of $20,00, pairing the town projects is necessary for consideration.

Council passed a motion to approve up to $60,000 for the Town Branding and Website Redevelopment Project, to be funded by the Operational Projects Reserve, and for the project to be completed by December 31, 2025.