About
Action Southwest
Action Southwest is
a partnership strategy whose mission is to grow a greater Southwest
Saskatchewan. This rural initiative has brought together business,
government, education, crowns, and citizen champions to look
at our regional economy and develop a plan for future growth
and prosperity.
The Southwest region
now faces competition from all over the globe and this has created
new challenges and as well, new opportunities. Action Southwest
is about bringing together all the assets and resources of our
communities and creating a regional plan that will enhance our
ability to compete in a global marketplace.
The Action Southwest partnership has
brought forth a new entrepreneurial vibe / enterprise mentality,
instilling new regional pride and confidence to invest in community
economic development. To date, this partnership has created
an economic impact that will benefit the region well into the
future.
To review a general
briefing on the Action Southwest partnership please see the
Action
Southwest Case-Study profiled by Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canada's Canadian Rural Partnership.
The Action
Southwest Vision
Is about building on strengths and creating regional competitive
advantages. To achieve sustainable prosperity, new ways of thinking
and action are indeed called for. New investments and new ways
of co-operating are required. Growing a regional economy will
require huge collaborative efforts and agreements encompassing
the broadest range of stakeholders possible in crafting the
steps to building the next generation economy. Strategies must
be designed to launch a permanent change in how regional stakeholders
(businesses, communities, governments, and institutions) do
business together, now and in the future.
Achieving the vision
of Action Southwest will require focusing on 4 pillars of strength
to building community capacity, business development and a prosperous
economy. These pillars are key fundamentals to growing a community,
region, province and nation.
1.
Developing a United Regional Economy
Globalization has
changed the way we do business and in turn, has required that
rural communities see themselves in a new light. Communities
must begin to see one another as economic partners and not as
competitors and depend on one another to prosper.
Southwest communities
face a number of challenges that can be conquered by simply
pooling our resources and working together.
The first step is
thinking regionally. This will require building a new economic
engine. Which means building our critical mass, developing skills
for our workforce, and providing access to capital needed to
generate growth and innovation. To do this we must work together.
2.
Building Competitive Advantages
When communities
combine their strengths, they can reach markets they could never
reach alone.
Communities must identify
the economic niches that exist and align their strengths and
assets with the available market opportunities. Communities
must also continuously evaluate their strengths to better determine
which niches can be filled and how they can best exploit their
combined assets. Partnering allows for the possibility of attaining
greater opportunities than individually.
3.
Fostering a Culture of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Building southwest
regional competitive advantage means focusing less on recruiting
and more on growing our own entrepreneurs and encouraging local
business startups and expansions.
Entrepreneurs are
a critical asset in building new economic engines, and this
is especially true in the Southwest rural economy. Entrepreneurs
are innovative beings with a great vision for recognizing the
region’s strengths. But regional prosperity relies on
more than just high numbers of entrepreneurs. It’s entrepreneurs
must have the ability to create firms with high value and growth.
Innovation in new technology, new products, and new competitive
practices in marketing and distribution are critical to creating
value.
4.
Enabling New Regional Governance and Leadership
The implementation
of a new plan is required to put our competitive advantages
to work. This new plan is now referred to as “governance”.
This means bringing together the key stakeholders within a “region”
to develop strategies for economic growth, as they are the individuals
who best understand their situation. In short, it is about shifting
the onus from federal and provincial governments to the region’s
officials.
Creating the right
structure for governance is just as important as selecting the
right competitive advantage. The two concepts, in fact, are
two sides of the same coin. Without good governance, the Southwest
cannot hope to build a competitive advantage. Governance embodies
collaboration and partnership.
Fostering effective
governance begins with developing new champions, forging institutional
support (public, private, non-profit and educational) and building
a new regional constituency. Those leaders who truly understand
the assets and opportunities that exist here in the Southwest
must be identified and engaged in a partnership to grow a greater
Southwest Saskatchewan.
5.
Investing in Economic Infrastructure
Facilities and services
play a key role in defi ning a community and regional identity.
A region’s economic and social infrastructure will signifi
cantly affect the quality of life offered to residents,
and the ability to enable business retention, expansion and
investment attraction, and remain
viable.
Moving
Forward
The five key pillars above will be supported
by various projects as identified in the “Engaging
Industry and Innovation Report” and the current
and future projects
identified in the Economic Development component of this website.
