The County of Northern Lights is a rural municipality located in the beautiful northern Peace Region of Alberta. Boasting vast rural landscapes, as well as the crisp, clean air of the countryside, the county offers residents and businesses the opportunity to live and work in the embrace of nature. The county also offers advantageously-priced and available land, access to important transportation infrastructure, a resilient workforce with a strong foundation in agriculture, and a close-knit community that values collaboration. All the pieces are in place grow economically and sustainably. Over the past few years, the County of Northern Lights has taken key steps to modernize and improve technologically, in order to better position itself to take advantage of the many opportunities available to it. Charles Schwab, Director of Public Works, took on his current role about two years ago, and he has personally bore witness to those efforts. “During my tenure, we’ve really started to update our processes and become more in line with the times,” he says. “When I got here, we were a little outdated. Now we’re in the digital era. That’s helped streamline things in the office and the field and put us in a really great position to grow.” Charles comes from a background in bridge construction, infrastructure, highway and underground projects. That experience has also proved useful, as the past few years have also seen the county invest heavily in bridge maintenance. For example, they currently have two bridge replacement projects underway, which are being 75 per cent funded by the Government of Alberta’s Strategic Transportation Infrastructure Program (STIP). They also have another STIP application APRIL 2025
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