The North West Enterprise Region elected a new board and reviewed activities from the past year at their annual general meeting June 23 at Fort Battleford National Historic Site.
Among the main items on the agenda was the nomination and election of directors to the board. Board members are Lori Whitecalf, Chris Odishaw, Peter Kingsmill, Jeff Mulligan, Bryan Nylander, Susan Foods, Denis Lavertu, Lori Gollan, Bob Colliar and Wally Lorenz.
The board was elected by acclamation and will fill 10 seats. Another four spots are still available.
Leaving the board are Margaret Skinner, Mike Ritchie and Tom Chief. The entire past board was thanked for their work over the past year.
Another item addressed was an amendment to the boundaries of the North West Enterprise Region. The RM of Blaine Lake is no longer part of the region. Blaine Lake has opted to join another enterprise region.
Chairman Wally Lorenz reported on some of the challenges facing the organization, now entering year two of its existence following the restructuring away from Regional Economic Development Authorities.
The organization hired a CEO, Vic Goodman, but Lorenz noted the fit wasn't right for the organization and he departed in December of last year. Eunice Skinner has been serving as interim CEO and Lorenz noted she has done a great job in that role. He also said the "interim" situation is likely to continue for some time as a result of significant funding cuts to the enterprise regions in the provincial budget.
The funding cuts raised the eyebrows of Liberal leader Ryan Bater, who expressed his concern during the question and answer session about the cuts' impact on the enterprise region's ability to attract a permanent CEO for the organization.
Bater also was sympathetic to the challenges the new organization faced, having previously served as general manager of the Battlefords REDA. The Battlefords REDA was one of four REDAs that make up the new enterprise region.
Lorenz acknowledged the challenges in setting up the organization, saying it was a bit of a learning curve for everyone.
During the CEO's report, Eunice Skinner outlined some of the accomplishments and activities of the North West Enterprise Region in the past year and in the months ahead.
They include the municipal community mapping and planning program launched in the summer of 2009; the initiation of a working group into the Alternative Green Fuel project where a feasibility study was completed earlier this year; a study of the region's competitive advantages completed by Christopher Doll of Nuguru Consultants Inc.; the hosting of the SEDA conference in which businessman and philanthropist Brett Wilson was the keynote speaker; the development of promotional material and marketing for the Vancouver Olympics where the partner cities of North Battleford and Lloydminster were represented in February at the Saskatchewan Pavilion; and a wide range of other activities that marked the first year of the enterprise region's operation.
