NIPAWIN — Nipawin’s new economic development officer, Perry Trusty, doesn’t have any big changes planned when he starts his job.
“I want to work with council. I want to work with administration. I want to work with the business community and through that dialogue we’ll see what we can do,” Trusty said.
“There is obviously a lot of stuff in place I will be helping with what’s been ongoing and been successful for a long time.”
Trusty holds a bachelor in public administration and has earned his economic development designation through the Economic Development Association of Canada, but what first got into economic development was his role as a television marketing producer for the City of Prince Albert.
“I was working in television, doing promotion for the City of Prince Albert and they asked me come on board and do promotion and marketing and economic development for them full time,” Trusty said.
That ignited his spark in his interest of economic development.
“There were a lot of similarities between the position, but subsequently there was obviously other stuff that a person learned at a municipal level that didn’t apply to strictly a marketing background.”
He would later work for both City of Melfort and the Town of Tisdale in economic development.
“Economic attraction is an interest of mine, and all that it involves – business retention as well,” Trusty said. He added his other interests in the field include promotion and marketing.
He believes the position of economic development officer requires fresh ideas after a few years, which is why in the past he has never stayed in the same area for too long.
“Fresh ideas are quite okay after a few years and somebody else might have better luck with different ideas trying the same thing,” Trusty said.
“I hope to stay in Nipawin for a few years. There are a lot of interesting things about the community and about the region and I really look forward to promoting the community and working with the tourism operators and working with the events.”
When Trusty was asked if this theme will continue and he will give up the role in a few years he replied, “we’ll see”.
“For now we’ll see, that’s what I have done in the past. We’ll see down the road on that,” Trusty said. “I always liked different, I always liked the region. I always liked the mix of the industry and the agriculture and the tourism. It’s quite a unique area in Saskatchewan with the assets that it has.”
His less work related interests include golf, spending time at lakes and travel.
“I love travelling and seeing places and seeing cities and towns and countries and meeting people. It’s wonderful to explore other cultures and places.”
Trusty will officially start his role on April 1.
