Yes! Winnipeg strengthening city

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This article was published 20/04/2023 (1094 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Yes! Winnipeg was created 10 years ago to be Economic Development Winnipeg’s “sales team” to expand, recruit and retain businesses for the city, it took the novel approach of seeking private sector investment to fund at least some of its operations.

That strategy has continued to be successful with another $1 million campaign last year and it is well on its way to achieving the goals of its next five-year plan to help in the creation of 10,000 jobs, $350 million in capital investment and $900 million of total economic impact by 2025.

And even though Yes! Winnipeg does not land plums like the French video game producer Ubisoft every year, the organization has become increasingly effective in assisting in the areas that are critical to the city’s economic development.

For instance, Yes! Winnipeg now plays a major role in recruiting foreign talent through the province’s Work in Manitoba portal it operates.

On Thursday, in what was likely Dayna Spiring’s last Yes! Winnipeg investor event — she announced her intention to step down this summer — she said the organization has significant goals for 2023 and beyond.

For instance, the foreign direct investment team has created an inventory of all the foreign-owned companies in the city, she said.

“We are talking to their head offices in other parts of the world to ensure that Winnipeg is top of mind when they are thinking about where to expand their business.”

During the best-attended investor breakfast in its history on Thursday, the organization was paid the highest of compliments by Andy Gibbons, WestJet’s vice-president government relations and regulatory affairs.

Gibbons was part of a panel discussion on “telling the Winnipeg story” moderated by Martin McGarry of Cushman Wakefield Stevenson, which included Brad Fedorchuk, executive vice-president, group customer at Canada Life, and Paul Samyn, editor of the Winnipeg Free Press.

“Not every city in the country is as cohesive and united as you are in Winnipeg — all levels of government and industry. That matters. That really matters,” said Gibbons, whose Ottawa-based position with WestJet is all about government relations.

Gibbons was speaking generally, but the specific win for the Yes! Winnipeg team and the city was WestJet’s investment in a direct flight between Winnipeg and Los Angeles that began at the end of October.

“The groups who came together in this community secured a particularly significant investment from us,” he said in an interview. “Every community is hustling and lobbying us for investment to grow their economy. We have a lot of choice as to where to send our planes. Having the type of support we had here is what can be the difference maker.”

Gibbons teased that there was more to come in the next couple of weeks.

Ryan Kuffner, the Yes! Winnipeg lead, said the organization — and the city’s business leaders and business organizations — are getting better at the collaboration game.

“Absolutely there is economic development momentum these days,” said Kuffner. “I believe that part of that momentum is being driven by the increasing co-ordination and collaboration in the community. Honestly, we have never seen this level of alignment between the provincial and municipal governments, which allows us to do what we do more effectively as a bridge between them.”

With labour force issues presenting a strain on just about every segment of the economy, it is fitting that Yes! Winnipeg and EDW are in the middle of that issue working with the province to attract skilled foreign workers.

The connections that foreign-owned Winnipeg companies are providing are important, Kuffner said.

“That is opening doors for us in those markets in ways that we could not do without their support,” Kuffner said.

The organization is also leading international recruitment missions such as the one about to leave for Germany and Austria.

It is a new arrow in EDW’s quiver and Kuffner said Yes! Winnipeg has access to more resources from the private sector and government and is getting better and more strategic at it.

“The federal government is opening the taps on immigration to the tune of 500,000 per year by 2025,” said Kuffner. “How can Manitoba compete? We don’t compete after the game has started. We have to be prepared.”

The Work in Manitoba portal helps make connections between talent and businesses.

“So when there is an increase in federal immigration, Manitoba will be well-positioned to compete for the best and brightest relative to other jurisdictions,” Kuffner said. “If we don’t put the right pieces in place to prepare to compete then we lose. I think that this is an area where we are getting better.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca