Co-op's of the Southwest Contribute to Action Southwest Sponsorship Fund
January 6, 2006
On November 3, 2005 the Action Southwest Business Networks Coalition officially introduced the Action Southwest Sponsorship Fund at their “Determining Our Destiny” regional dinner in Shaunavon. The fund has been established to allow Action Southwest to start taking action on the 30 plus projects the organization identified through roundtable meetings with over 120 of our regions community leaders and industry stakeholders. The details of these projects can be found at www.actionsouthwest.com
On January 6th, 2006 six of the region’s co-op’s have contributed $3,000 to support the Action Southwest Sponsorship Fund. “For more than 100 years co-operatives have been social and economic mainstays in our communities, they have invested in our future time and time again and Action Southwest is very proud that the co-op’s have decided once again to invest in the southwest through the Action Southwest Fund, said Sandra Blyth, Action Southwest Project Manager.
“The co-op’s know that if we are going to see growth in the Southwest we we have to invest in economic development projects and anything that helps develop southwest Saskatchewan will certainly help our business grow”’ says Don Declercq, General Manager Shaunavon Co-op.
“With co-operatives in several communities we believe in the southwest and know the importance of investing in our region and this is why we have chosen to support the Action Southwest fund”, said Stu Dyrland, General Manager, Swift Current Pioneer Co-op.
Some of the projects that have been slated for action include the development of a southwest regional map which will highlight the top 100 tourism attractions and experiences offered in the southwest region. In addition, meetings to revitalize the Swift Current airport into a regional airport are also underway which will mean economic benefits for all sectors in the region. The manufacturing sector will be moving ahead with a project that will bring together manufacturers for a Lean 101 training session to begin the process of forming a lean manufacturing consortium. The agriculture sector has just received funding approval for the establishment of a supply chain network which will compliment new and existing value-added initiatives in the region. The energy sector will be moving forward on a Safety and Awareness project that will involve presentations to the regions high schools to discuss safety issues and job opportunities that are available
in the industry. Action Southwest is also working in partnership with other organizations, to take the region to “cool school”. This is an initiative that will begin to address the labour attraction and retention issues identified by industry in phase I. It will involve looking at key variables that have been identified as attractive to young
professionals and assessing how the region is doing. From this strategies to build on our attractiveness will proceed.
The sponsoring co-op’s include: Maple Creek’s Southwest Co-op Ltd, Frontier’s Farm Suppliers Co-op, Shaunavon Co-op, Assiniboia’s Southland Co-op, Herbert Co-op, and Swift Current’s Pioneer Co-op.
If you want to learn more about the Action Southwest Sponsorship Fund call 778-6445 or send an email to manager.bnc@sasktel.net
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