Issue 36
Staying Motivated with Audacious Community
It is not difficult to stay motivated when you have the chance to be part of something as exciting as our second Audacity event, celebrating entrepreneurs in the GRA. I was able to do that last week and seeing some 200 people come together with such a spirit of enthusiasm and belief in the future of our community was as uplifting as the arrival of spring. What I really love about this work is that it is being driven by the community. The Council for Entrepreneurial Growth, formed by volunteers from the business community, has stepped up to take ownership of the community strategy and to build a robust entrepreneurial eco-system that will foster that birth and growth of more new companies in the years ahead. I congratulate the council and all entrepreneurs for Thinking BIG!
REGINA BUSINESS LEADERS BELIEVE THE WORST IS OVER
The Greater Regina Area’s business executives are making predictions when it comes to forecasting the economic environment for 2019. When compared to the last quarter of 2018, our latest Regina Executive Leadership Outlook (RELO) developed in partnership with Praxis Consulting, finds a decrease in the percentage of respondents that believe the economy will remain the same across all indicators.
The Executive Confidence Index is currently 2.16, an increase from the last quarter of 2018, demonstrating positivity among GRA leaders for 2019. Investor confidence reflects the expected moderate growth projections Saskatchewan and Regina will see in 2019.
For the City of Regina, the real GDP rose a modest 1.8% in 2018 and the Conference Board of Canada projects continued modest growth in 2019 for Regina, as the real GDP is expected to rise by 2.2%.
AUDACITY EVENT CELEBRATES REGINA ENTREPRENEURS
Some 200 enthusiastic celebrants got together last week at Path Cowork for the second Audacity reception to recognize entrepreneurs and their spirit of enterprise.
During the event the Audacious Acts video was released, celebrating entrepreneurs and the bold steps they took in 2018. We encourage you to watch the video – there is much to celebrate in Regina.
Wondering what Audacity is?
Audacity YQR is about celebrating entrepreneurship and recognizing that Regina is, without a doubt, an entrepreneurial city. The movement encourages everyone in Regina to embrace a culture of boldness and entrepreneurial spirit in their everyday lives. Audacity is built by the community, for the community.
We love to share stories about the businesses and entrepreneurs in the Greater Regina Area. You all have an important part to play in making the social fabric of our community the great place it is. Are you interested in sharing your story? We’d love to hear from you – please contact hello@audacityyqr.ca
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 101: YOU CAN’T DO IT BY YOURSELF
By Bruce Johnstone
This is the third in a series of articles about the fundamental principles behind the work of economic development in the Greater Regina Area.
It takes two to tango, as they say, and economic development is no exception to the rule.
“No one individual or organization is responsible for economic development,” says EDR CEO John Lee. “We’re all in the economic development business.’’
That wasn’t always the case. For example, EDR started out as a small department of city hall, with one person, the economic development officer, charged with the herculean task of finding and capturing economic development opportunities for the city.
The economic development officer attended trade shows and missions, travelling inside and outside the province to promote the city as a place to start or relocate a business. The economic development officer would make cold calls, follow up leads and track down potential business investors.
It was a busy job, a tough job and perhaps an impossible one. Gradually, the decision-makers at city hall began to see that economic development was too big a job for one individual, one department of city hall or even city hall itself. Read more.
REGINA ADVANTAGE CONTINUES TO GROW
In 2017 EDR and our stakeholders launched a multi-year initiative to articulate, celebrate, and promote the Greater Regina Area’s advantages and assets as a great place to live, learn, and invest.
Since then we have executed a national digital advertising campaign reaching fourteen Canadian markets and making over twenty million ad impressions. We re-designed and re-launched both the EDR and Tourism Regina websites, including provision of tools and resources to help everyone in the GRA tell our story with free collateral like videos and photos.
Now we are making it even easier for everyone to tell others about Regina’s successful companies, our learning infrastructure, and our fabulous lifestyle. EDR is producing an ongoing editorial calendar of content for social media that we are creating and sharing with anyone who is interested. If you would like to receive this calendar and perhaps employ some of this material for internal or external communications, just contact EDR’s Manager, Corporate Communications, Alison Barton. abarton@economicdevleopmentregina.com
30 SECONDS ON…
Renowned Regina volunteer Bernadette McIntyre has received national recognition from the Canadian Sports Tourism Association.
SASK CHAMBER SPOTLIGHTS ENERGY
The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce is presenting a series of events that spotlight speakers from our energy sector. Some pretty interesting insiders on their list:
Energy Experts – Fuel for Thought Luncheon
Keynote presentation by Chris Slubicki, President & CEO at Modern Resources Inc., Calgary, followed by a panel session with Chris and Kirsten Marcia, President & CEO at DEEP.
Date: April 3, 2019
Time: 11:00 AM – 2:30 PM
Venue: Hotel Saskatchewan, Regina
Price: $75.00
Energy on Tap
The Energy on Tap informal networking and information sessions focus on the broad based energy sector in Saskatchewan and will feature businesses in the private sector who are contributing to this province’s energy mix. The events begin at 4:30 PM with a 45 minute fire side conversation, followed by a Q&A session.
April 1: Innovation with Greenwave Innovations and Harvard Developments.
April 25: Oil & Gas with Craig Lothian.
May 23: Indigenous-led Energy Production with First Nations Power Authority and Cowessess First Nation.
June 13: Renewable Energy with Innergex.
TOURISM REGINA SPRING 2019 FAMILIARIZATION TOUR – TICKETS NOW ON SALE!
The Spring Familiarization Tour introduces participants to many of Regina’s attractions. The purpose of this tour is to equip members of the tourism and hospitality industry to be able to provide visitors with first-hand knowledge of some of the amazing attractions in Regina.
Join one of the tours yourself and/or send members of your team! This training is open to everyone and anyone; however, we feel that those who would benefit from this the most include: front-of-house staff members at hotels and restaurants, local shop owners, public transit workers, taxi drivers, tour guides and tourism students.
Should you have questions regarding tickets, please contact Brenden Branscombe: bbranscombe@tourismregina.com
