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New funding for WOLG

Development coalition secures funding from province to attract soybean facility

The group pushing for a soybean crushing plant in Westman has now secured $75,000 in new provincial funding from the Manitoba Department of Municipal Relations through the “Partner 4 Growth” program. This money will be used to help each of several communities determine their ability to support such an industry.

The grant is for community assessment,” explains Ray Redfern, Chair of Westman Opportunities Leadership Group (WOLG). “We are going to bring together a design team.”

These new funds add to the significant community funding that has been raised over the past year from five member communities, all focused on building community capacity and an understanding of the business opportunity that could come to Manitoba.

“In this case, the community of Neepawa, plus the Neepawa and Area Development Corporation (NADCO) was instrumental in helping secure provincial funding,” confirmed Redfern. “They led the fund development process and were instrumental in guiding a successful application, of which we are most appreciative. This is another good example of how our five member communities are working together to a common goal.”

This new funding will help advance Westman Opportunities Leadership Group in efforts to attract a world-scale soybean processing facility to Manitoba. Namely, to provide a blueprint to help communities build their own case for the construction of a plant.

Building off of a very successful November 2017 conference in Brandon, the funding provided by Municipal Relations will enable the creation of a multi-community development plan. With three million acres in soybean cultivation in Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 2017 the conference confirmed the opportunity for a facility to process soybeans in Manitoba. The funding provided will help make this happen. 

Strategic design team

Over the coming weeks a design team will be established to guide the strategic development process. This team will deliver a complete strategy that identifies all the activities needed to successfully attract a future soybean-processing plant, including establishing specific outcomes and designating accountability for delivery.

WOLG is made up of business, academic and community leaders. Community participation by Brandon, Neepawa, Virden, Russell and Carberry has been instrumental in building community understanding of the opportunity. Additional community participation is invited.

WOLG also has partnered with Brandon University Rural Development Institute to support investment attraction efforts. 

“We will be working over the coming weeks with our five regional members and BU to move ahead,” Redfern said.

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