The Town of High River has a hired a new Economic Development Officer and she means business.

Shawna Stonehouse says she's an Alberta girl with the experience to get the job done.

"I've worked in the UK and Ontario and I've seen a lot of different models, and a lot of things that haven't been done in Alberta. I'd like to bring in a market based approach to the commercial mix of the town."

She says the first step is to see what the public wants downtown and other areas in High River to look like.

She says surveys are a great way to ask people where they're from, why they come to High River and what they'd like to see here.

"Why do people come to High River? What's missing here? Then I can take that data and I can go to the missing business and say if you open up, you'll have customers. That's one of the first things that we'll be doing."

She says she wants to take a deliberate approach to where money is spent rather having a build it and they will come attitude.

She says based on experience she knows what it takes to rebuild.

Stonehouse says that after a tornado devastated a town where she lived in 2012, she assisted in bringing businesses together on a common purpose.

"The employers were all shut down and all these groups had never talked to each other and were not working well together and I said if you're not going to play in the sandbox together then your're not going to get any money. They figured out a way to get along and were up and running in almost record time."

Stonehouse was officially introduced at the High River Chamber Luncheon on Thursday at the Highwood Golf and Country Club.

High River's new Economic Development Officer Shawna Stonehouse outlines her plan of action at last week's Chamber Luncheon. Photo - Jeff McLenaghan