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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Project aims to woo firms to city

$6-million, five-year plan seeks to boost growth rate, jobs

By: Martin Cash

Posted: 05/18/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

A new one-stop shop to help attract, retain and expand businesses in Winnipeg -- called Yes! Winnipeg -- is to be launched Tuesday with the ambitious goal of trying to jolt Winnipeg out of its slow and steady pace of economic growth.

A campaign to raise $6 million to fund the initiative will be announced today.

Promising that it's not just another advertising or promotion campaign, Yes! Winnipeg has some aggressive, definable targets -- more than 4,000 new jobs created and more than $1 billion in economic impact over the next five years.

Yes! Winnipeg came out of an 18-month-old Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce volunteer effort -- called Selling Winnipeg to the World -- that used leads from existing businesses to identify specific companies to attract to the city to enhance economic growth.

Today's announcement will include the fact that almost 50 per cent of the five-year budget has already been committed.

The funds will be used for a five-year operating budget for what is planned to be a 10-person team. They will identify new business leads, provide guidance through red tape, connect with industry contacts and identify public-sector resources that might help a specific project.

Bill Morrissey, the chamber executive in charge of the initiative, said, "It will provide all the services that will make it easier for businesses to say yes to Winnipeg."

Organizers are framing the fund-raising as an investment in the future of the city and not a philanthropic donation. Some of the largest companies in the city like Wellington West, Great-West Life and IGM Financial are already on board.

Organizers say many others have also signalled their intentions to invest $100,000 or more.

Charlie Spiring, founder and CEO of Wellington West Capital, is chairing the fundraising efforts.

"I would not put my name behind something that is just a feel-good exercise," Spiring said. "This will be a success."

Spiring said he has seen good results from similar efforts that so-called "second-tier" cities have undertaken in the U.S.

The plan is for two-thirds of the budget to come from the private sector and one-third from governments. Morrissey said they have good reason to believe government funds will materialize.

The plan is for the initiative to be formally established by early July. It will become part of Economic Development Winnipeg, Destination Winnipeg's new name.

Marina James, head of EDW, said, "This is an exciting opportunity to expand our focus quickly into strategic selling. It will enhance the attraction, retention and expansion work we have always done."

James and others said that having Yes! Winnipeg folded into EDW will eliminate any potential confusion as to who is providing support for business development in the city.

"I think we will see tangible results quite quickly," Spiring said. "I see this as a true investment in the future of Winnipeg where 10 or 20 or 30 years from now people will say this is when we got the wheels turning in the right direction."

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca

Yes! Winnipeg's projected 5-year impact:

4,200

new direct jobs

$130 million

increased consumer spending

$391 million

increased annual payroll

$1.4 billion

increased economic output

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 18, 2010 B6

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