Celebrating Economic Development Week: Building a stronger Weyburn together
Mayor Jeff Richards proclaimed this week as Economic Development Week in Weyburn during Monday's meeting of Weyburn City Council.
Monica Osborn, Executive Director of Weyburn Regional Economic Development (WRED) was in attendance for the signing of the proclamation.
WRED's focus this week is to highlight the important role economic development plays in growing a resilient, and vibrant community. Year-round, WRED strives to make Weyburn an attractive place to live, work, invest, and visit, by fostering the conditions for sustainable growth, high-quality jobs, and a strong quality of life for all Weyburn residents.
"Economic development is such a wide variety of different aspects. It's about business attraction, business retention, hiring employees, growing your staff, being able to start businesses, and finding those jobs that fit for those individuals. It's not necessarily always construction of new buildings or anything like that, but maybe filling in vacant buildings as well," shared Osborn.
WRED offers a variety of resources for investors and entrepreneurs seeking data, incentives, and opportunities; new residents looking for services and community information; and organizations and businesses interested in hosting conferences or special events in Weyburn.
"With businesses wanting to move into Weyburn and set up and invest in our community, we're working alongside them. We have some documents that we have available for investors that provide a lot of information about our community and what the advantages are of being able to set up in Weyburn," she noted, pointing out such draws for sustainable growth as the City of Weyburn's Commercial Incentive programs and the Weyburn Builds program for residential improvements.
WRED's resources include information about commercial and residential property taxes, with Weyburn having one of the lowest in the province.
"That gives us a bit of an advantage, as the cost of living overall in Saskatchewan is lower than all across Canada, so that's another huge advantage."
Osborn noted that while the City of Weyburn's budget does include smaller portions from provincial and federal funding, most of the funds for infrastructure improvements come from the tax base.
"As ratepayers, it's important to see those investments coming into our community because the more investment and the more property taxes that you have, the less chance that you have for a sudden rise of the property taxes. So with a larger tax base, they can do more projects. They have those funds. Anytime a new business comes into town, it's always great to see those property taxes go into helping with infrastructure over the long term for the City of Weyburn and R.M. Weyburn."
"You get a boost of your economy when you have outside investment coming into your community," she continued. "The money in your own community can only circulate so many times before it kind of gets a little bit stagnant. So being able to have Weyburn on the map as a place to have investment come in, and be ready for the services that those businesses require to set up their business - it doesn't matter what it is, it can be a small retail store all the way up to a large industry leader - anything that comes into our community from outside just helps bring more dollars into our community."
Osborn said, increased revenue generation in our community, in turn, helps fund improvements to aging infrastructure, for example.
Key resources WRED provides are the 2025 Community Profile, which offers insight into the region’s economy, industries, and infrastructure; the 'Host Your Event in Weyburn' guide, showcasing venues, services, and accommodations for events of all sizes; and the New Resident’s Guide, designed to help individuals and families settle in the community with ease. Find those HERE or at the WRED office at 11 Third Street.
'Shopping local' is another way everyone can do their part to support economic development.
"We always encourage residents, whether you're from Weyburn or our surrounding community, we have a drawing population of about 50,000 that come to Weyburn and we always try to bring to light that Weyburn does have what you usually do need and require," she commented. "If you are looking for something specific, stop in at some of the local businesses and just ask. Maybe they might be able to source it for you and bring it in specifically for your needs. They're always willing to work with their customers and grow that customer base themselves."
While online shopping may be convenient, the human interaction is lost along with the sensory aspects of making an informed purchase.
"Shopping online isn't necessarily benefiting anyone, and you can have that personal relationship with the [local] owner and get to know them and know that the money is going to be staying in our own community," she added. "You can touch and feel the products that you're buying and it's all about that customer service."
"Everyone has their preferences, but we encourage getting to know our local business owners. They're here to support Weyburn, and we have lots of long-term businesses in town. They're great, and they're willing to work with their customers and grow those relationships."