The City of Estevan delegation with Mayor Roy Ludwig, economic development co-ordinator Dwight (Fitz) Bramble, a local business representative and Lindsay Quick from the Ministry of Trade and Export Development recently returned from the Netherlands.
The three-day trip, aimed at bringing some foreign investors to Estevan, was covered by the federal government鈥檚 grant under the program that supports small communities with foreign development investment activities.
Planning the trip, the group focused on companies specializing in agri-value and renewable energy production. And the Netherlands turned out to have a lot of experience, expertise, technology and international investment initiatives in these two sectors.
鈥淚t was very successful in terms of what we鈥檝e intended to accomplish,鈥� said Bramble.
First, the delegation met with the representatives of the trade commission of the Embassy of Canada to the Netherlands in Hague. They agreed on collaboration aimed at identifying the possible investors willing to come to Canada and build their businesses in Estevan.
The companies the group met with were prequalified prior to the trip as businesses interested in international investments and the Canadian market.
One of the companies they met with specializes in horticultural projects, particularly in construction and operation of greenhouses.
鈥淲e will be following up with them to see if we can have them come over here or work with some local companies, some local investors to establish, to build and operate greenhouses,鈥� said Bramble.
They also visited the World Horti Centre, which is a big facility that accommodates numerous companies involved in agri-value.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a combination of a centre of excellence and a greenhouse, agri-value incubator,鈥� explained Bramble, noting that he is now in touch with a marketing person running the experimental facility in that centre. They are discussing a mission to Estevan, which they want to take place by the end of this year, bringing some of the companies from the Netherlands to have a look at the Energy City.
They also met with the business manager for trade and investment for the Westland municipality of the Netherlands, which is known as the agri-value municipality of Holland. The meeting was also aimed at outlining some potential investors willing to come to Estevan.
Bramble noted that it was important to personally meet with some potential investors or find entry points for future co-operation and get foreign stakeholders interested in what the Energy City has to offer.
鈥淓stevan is a small community. We need investors. Investors don鈥檛 need us, because they have so many other locations that they can consider and they can choose to establish their business. We need them, so we have to go out there and seek them, we have to go out there and pursue them,鈥� explained Bramble.
Even though it鈥檚 too early to talk about the outcomes, Bramble said people they met in the Netherlands were quite excited to hear about what Estevan had to offer. And there was a lot to talk about.
鈥淲e have a lot of advantages here that a lot of other small cities and even bigger cities don鈥檛 have鈥� The fact that we have such a large amount of land here not only for agriculture but also for developing processing plants, manufacturing plants. The fact that Estevan is considered the sunniest place in Canada lends itself very well for solar energy and solar projects. The fact that we are so closely located to the U.S. border and have a very well developed network of roads and highways and also rail system 鈥� The fact that we have SaskPower鈥檚 largest power producing plant here in Estevan 鈥� The fact that we have the carbon capture technology here, the Shand Power Station鈥� Not to mention our business incentives here in the city and the fact that we have a very welcoming community鈥� And also the fact that we have a very good regional airport,鈥� listed Bramble.
But even though the city is trying their best to attract investors from across Canada and from overseas, the final decisions are not up to them.
鈥淲e lay the groundwork, we create the environment, we provide the information about Estevan, but at the end of the day, private investors make their own decisions. The City of Estevan doesn鈥檛 get into the building and operating of businesses, we can only support businesses, encourage them to establish,鈥� said Bramble.
