A needs assessment of the Cochrane and District Agricultural Society (CDAS) is about to be launched and is the first of a two-phase plan to look to the future.

CDAS president Justin Burwash says Paul Conrad and Associates Ltd. has been hired to complete this first phase and they anticipate it will be completed sometime this fall.

"We've had our inital meetings and they'll be some surveys that will be going out shortly directly to user groups and members of the Ag Society as well as any of the people who have contracted commercial bookings with us plus randomly to residents of both the county and the town to gather information to kick off the process," says Burwash.

Part of that is a gap analysis to understand what is being utilized and what could be expanded upon or added to meet plausible needs.

"We're trying to make sure what we think is the right direction forward is the truly the right direction forward and maybe highlight some additional things that haven't been on our radar that we can make part of our future vision."

He says RVS is anxious to see results and he doesn't anticipate them taking any action until after the upcoming election.

"It will likely be the new council we will present in front of shortly after they get sworn in and we'll give them a flavour for who we are and what we do," says Burwash.

What is clear is the growth in the use of the Ag Grounds for a number of regular and special events

"Our users groups continue to grow as well as commercial events and our fair. Our fair committee is doing a great job and it's going to grow a lot, I think."

Burwash points to the recent wildly successful BMX Provincial Meet and Cochrane Horse Trials, June 24-25, that collectively attracted well over a thousand people. The BMX provincial meet was the largest ever held and the horse trials attracted 125 entries and numerous spectators.

Looking forward, the Cochrane Fair, Aug. 18-20  expects to build further upon the 15,000 people they attracted last year with their additional attractions, especially the West Coast Lumberjack Show being generously sponsored by Spray Lake Sawmills.They've also added Cochrane Classic Bullriding on Aug. 19 that was previously held at the Lions Rodeo Grounds, as well as junior rodeo events

"We've tripled our sponsorship and it's great to see it resonate with the business community."

It's unclear what the future is at the ag society's current location and the board continues to analyze potential locations, but in the meantime they are happy growing the appeal of their operation within the boundaries on Cochrane.