Town of Neepawa receiving funding

Details

Published on Monday, April 27, 2015

By Kate Jackman-Atkinson

The Neepawa Banner

Earlier this year, Neepawa was one of three Manitoba communities to receive funding under a federal government program to help attract and retain foreign direct investment. Invest Canada- Community Initiatives (ICCI) provided $132,180 in funding to Economic Development Winnipeg, the Beausejour Brokenhead Development Corporation and the Town of Neepawa. 

Town of Neepawa economic development officer Marilyn Crewe said that the goal of the program is to position Neepawa so that it can attract investment that supports the community. Because Neepawa is new to the program, she said that ICCI is targeted training for her.  She used part of the grant to attend a training session earlier this year. 

The ICCI funding covered half of the training and Crewe said that the Town can apply in future years for additional funding to further develop a plan. Subsequent grants can be used for activities such as strategic planning, building capital, increasing investor awareness or identifying attractive investors.

Crewe explained that ICCI has a strong focus on small to medium sized businesses and finding ways that foreign direct investment can help existing businesses. Through the training, she said they looked at identifying the community’s priority sectors, areas that should be targeted for investment, ways to help existing businesses and improving how businesses work together.

Following the training, Crewe said that she is looking at the community to see existing strengths and looking at ways of better promoting the town. She added that she will be updating the website to include more of the information relevant to anyone looking to establish a business in the town, such as statistics and amenities. 

Crewe said that the ultimate goal of the program is to create employment in the area and that it focuses not only on attracting new businesses, but also helping existing businesses expand.