While COVID has caused many events to be cancelled in the past year by many organizations across the province, Saskatchewan Economic Development Alliance (SEDA) has gone digital to ensure their annual conference could go forward.
Even with the need to go digital, the one-day conference on Dec. 2 saw 104 individuals from across the province and beyond met online to discuss everything from the Saskatchewan film industry to growing rural hubs to the future that agriculture has on Saskatchewan community development with 15 presenters lending their expertise to these discussions. SEDA CEO Verona Thibault said she was happy with the turn out considering it looked different than usual this year.
COVID-19, while an important talking point in the news right now, was not a big part of the dialogue, Thibault said.
鈥淔olks are moving to the future now, which is good. We need to be thinking about economic recovery and we're here to help them and our partners.鈥�
The day started with Emmy award-winning television producer and public speaker, Bill Stainton, discussing the future of innovation and what that entails for Saskatchewan community leaders. Stainton鈥檚 idea of connecting the dots and making sure the dots are diverse was a common theme that was brought up later by other speakers.
鈥淚nnovation is all about connecting dots. It's about seeing relationships that others don't see. And that's why you need to collect as many dots as you can. Now, what are these dots? These dots can be anything; ideas, experiences, people.鈥�
This idea also resonated with Thibault as the conference progressed. Communities see more success with their projects if they work together with partners with common goals, and that does take connecting with other like-minded organizations to get the job done.
鈥淭here seems to be some tangible concern about sustainability and having everybody in their own lane and the future [of development]. There's work to be done there. If we can connect those dots, leveraging these organizations to build better capacity and build better outcomes.鈥�
Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Brent Fitzpatrick took part in a panel with fellow Chamber of Commerce leaders from Weyburn, Estevan and Regina about the intersectionality of business improvement, tourism, and economic development. Even with Humboldt being a smaller community than the other members of the panel, Fitzpatrick said they all have common problems and goals, it is just a matter of scale.
鈥淚t's about population diversity, growth, economic diversity and every community faces that. We just face it in, for example, a slightly smaller scale than say Weyburn or Estevan.鈥�
Communities across the province are dealing with these issues, he said, especially now with COVID-19 wreaking havoc on all Saskatchewan communities. Speaking with others in attendance, they all had taken note of the common theme of connecting and working together through these difficult times and beyond, Fitzpatrick said.
鈥淭here has to be a common step forward, not seven or eight different steps in different directions. I know and I believe that's the only way to come out of this with forward momentum.鈥�
SEDA鈥檚 work on connecting the dots will continue into 2021 as they work with communities on action plans for economic development in their communities. Through funding from the Western Diversification Program, they will be able to offer eight to 10 Saskatchewan communities some financial assistance and expertise on creating these plans and then will be encouraging them to implement them.
