Manufacturing
Week
Manufacturing
Creating
New Opportunities and Innovation in Southwest Saskatchewan
From
May 22nd - 25th Saskatchewan will celebrate the Manufacturing
Industry. Manufacturing is one of the three key wealth-generating
sectors in the province, along with agriculture and resource
production.
The
manufacturing sector offers much promise and opportunity for
rural Saskatchewan . With shipments totaling $10.4 billion in
2006 and with over half of all manufacturing and processing
being done outside of Regina and Saskatoon, this sector presents
opportunities to reverse the rural depopulation trend, revitalize
rural areas, and create new employment.
In
2005, Action Southwest conducted a Competitive Advantage Analysis
of the southwest region. This form of analysis classifies sectors
according to their concentration of employment and assesses
their growth / decline compared to provincial trends. The manufacturing
sector was identified as an emerging strength of the southwest.
From 1991 - 2001 the employment growth rate was 49% compared
to only 9% provincially. This clearly demonstrates that the
manufacturing sector offers new opportunities to the southwest
region and should be celebrated.
To
celebrate southwest manufacturers in 2007, an action team was
pulled together and the concept of producing a video that would
profile manufacturers and the industry in the southwest was
developed. With the growth of this sector, availability of skilled
labour is a concern and so the idea of a tool to assist in promoting
its offerings was identified by the partners. Five larger manufacturers
were selected from across the region to participate in the production.
They will receive a video profile on their company that can
be used as a marketing tool on their websites and emails or
for promotions at tradeshows and job fairs. The individual video
vignettes will also be compiled into one larger piece that will
be made available to agencies and groups working to promote
opportunities in the southwest region.
Manufacturing
Week Action Team
Lead:
Monique Lischynski, Saskatchewan Industry and Resources
Support/Advisory:
- Sandra Blyth, Action Southwest
- Dianne Sletten, Saskatchewan Regional Economic and
Co-operative Development
- Linda Douglas, Saskatchewan Regional Economic andCo-operative
Development
- Karen Bonesky, Southwest Centre for Entrepreneurial
Development
- Melanie Davis, Canada-Saskatchewan Career & Employment
Services
- John Parker, Southwest Community Futures Development
Corporation
- Keleah Herron, Southwest Regional Economic Development
Autthority
- Marty Salberg, City of Swift Current
- Marianne Hawkins, Swift Current Chamber of Commerce
