A legacy of promoting, improving city

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This article was published 18/05/2023 (881 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Wednesday’s annual meeting of Economic Development Winnipeg was its first in four years and the final one for outgoing president and CEO Dayna Spiring.

Perhaps it was because it hasn’t provided such a public update for so long, but it seemed like the organization had a lot to report on.

Even though there was a couple of years of hibernation during the pandemic — Spiring said the organization made it its mission to be the catalyst to become one of the fastest and most resilient economic recoveries in the country — Spiring and EDW have been very busy.

During the last couple of years, it has invested in better management systems including implementing the powerful Salesforce customer relationship management tool. It has developed a market intelligence team and has taken on the management of the province’s Work in Manitoba recruitment portal for skilled workers seeking to immigrate to Manitoba. The increase in duties has caused the organization to almost double in size from 30 to 56 employees.

In 2022, its job retention, creation and recruitment efforts helped secure 5,500 jobs and facilitated $367 million in new capital investment.

As the institutional cheerleader for the city, EDW focuses on the positive aspects of the city and has professionalized its marketing approach with the release of a sophisticated rebranding campaign last year which is led by the tag-line — Winnipeg: Made from What’s Real.

In an interview Spiring laughed at her good-humoured turn in EDW’s widely applauded Lego video explaining “What is economic development?” and her and her team’s funny performance as carpenters in a video in advance of the first city-wide convention for last year’s Western Retail Lumber Association.

While Spiring may have been the city’s chief cheerleader for the past seven years, her tenure has been full of serious hard work as well.

Bill Parrish, chairman of EDW’s board of directors, expressed the board’s gratitude for Spiring’s efforts and presence.

“Her magic is that she always puts Winnipeg first, always before politics, always before doing what’s easiest or most convenient,” Parrish said. “She is tough as nails and smart as a whip.”

He said through drive and determination, she inspired the EDW team and convinced them to “see the city through her eyes.”

While some might say it’s easy to point out the flaws of Winnipeg, Parrish said Spiring celebrated Winnipeg’s greatness and boosted pride in the city and she did it with “eloquence, enthusiasm and a fierce commitment to the best possible outcomes.”

Spiring has said a few times that she is encouraged by the city’s new mayor Scott Gillingham and his “yes first” approach at city hall.

For his part, Gillingham said he feels very optimistic about the city’s future and that since EDW is front and centre in promoting the city, her successor will be critical to the on-going success and growth of the city.

“There needs to be a seamless relationship between the city and EDW,” he said. “And I credit Dayna with the work they’ve done. We need to make sure city and EDW work close together.”

The search for her successor has already yielded more than 60 applications.

Spiring said she is prepared to stay on until August — but would be OK to leave earlier.

During her tenure she was instrumental in Winnipeg being named the world’s “Most Intelligent Community” twice; she led the successful bid to host the 2025 Grey Cup; and was a key player in expanding flight connectivity including direct flights to Los Angeles and now Atlanta.

A lawyer and the former chief strategy officer with the Canadian Wheat Board who led the team that orchestrated the privatization transaction at CWB, Spiring said she does not have another engagement lined up.

“I’m just looking forward to finally being able to spend a week at our cottage this summer.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca