Carrot River has been declared one of four ChangeMAKERs in the province by the Saskatchewan Economic Development Association.
That means a film crew from CTV will come to Carrot River and produce a video promoting the town’s economic development efforts.
“They’ve stated the reason they grabbed Carrot River was precisely because of our branding,” said Kevin Trew, Carrot River’s town administrator, referring to the Saskatchewan’s Outback brand. “It’s no surprise to me because we put a lot of work and effort into it.”
As well, the association devoted seven minutes of a presentation to Carrot River’s brand at the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association convention in February.
“Economic development and community development is all about leaders, so our goal is to inspire leaders – whether they are elected or informal leaders – to invest and continue to move their community forward,” said Verona Thibault, the Economic Development Association’s executive director.
There were $6,000 in expenses to bring the film crew to Carrot River. The town’s council voted to contribute up to $1,500 of that sum at its April 19 meeting. The town’s board of trade and service clubs were among the organizations approached to raise the money.
Bob Gagné, Carrot River’s mayor, said he was pleased with being declared a ChangeMAKER.
“Every time we get advertising for our town, to me it’s a win-win situation. That exposure alone for tourism would be great.”
The other towns were Leask, Watrous and Île à la Crosse.
Written with files from Becky Zimmer
