For years, Saskatchewan was listed as a "have-not" province, and the place in Canada and the world, really, where people were "from" but not a place that many stayed to live in.
That all changed right around the time we celebrated our Centennial in 2005. Soon after those parties wrapped up, people started to move back to Saskatchewan, or move to Saskatchewan full stop, period. Our population began to grow as our economy began to boom.
Right now, Saskatchewan is the envy of many parts of Canada. Jobs are scarce in Ontario, but plentiful out here. In fact, there are probably more jobs than people out there right now - much the same situation Alberta found themselves in a few years ago, though we are not yet at the point of lowering the legal working age.
But there are still some lingering issues connected with the time Saskatchewan wasn't the choice destination for anyone.
One of those is our attitude towards success, and successful people.
Humboldt and its surrounding area, in general, is a place where I feel entrepreneurs are celebrated, lauded even, for what they do. Starting out on your own is something hundreds of people in this area have done, to great success. Look at all those little towns in this region that are home to huge businesses - Annaheim has Doepker Industries, St. Brieux has Bourgault, St. Gregor has Michel Industries, and Englefeld has two - Koenders Manufacturing and Schulte Industries. All started as small businesses and grew to ship things all over the world.
And people here are proud of them - for starting small and growing so big. It gives other entrepreneurs - especially those who want to locate businesses outside of large centres - hope, and provides them with an example to follow so they can make their ideas into businesses, and subsequently into successful businesses.
But do we have a problem with the people behind these businesses? Are we okay with businesses being successful, but not those who started them making money?
That has been suggested to this editor recently - that while businesses making money is acceptable, individuals at those companies pulling in a good wage or making a substantial profit each year receive more scorn than they should. It's an attitude that exists, I've been told, not only in this area, but in Saskatchewan as a whole.
For myself, I looked around the room at the recent Mark of Excellence awards held by the Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce and was nothing but impressed. I'm proud that this area is home to so many successful businesses, and wealthy people. Do I wish I had their funds sometimes? Sure. Do I wish I had their jobs, with the pressure and workload placed on them to run these successful companies? No way, José. My passions lie elsewhere.
Over the years, I've gotten to know some of these local entrepreneurs. And I have to say, while at events like the Mark of Excellence awards, it may look easy to do what they do, it's not. It's hard work. They put in long hours. Some barely sleep. Their success comes at a cost.
So why do they keep doing it? I have to say, from what I've seen, it's passion. They LOVE what they do. They LOVE running their business, getting involved in new projects, starting new marketing campaigns. It's exciting for them. They get a glint in their eyes when they talk about what they do and where they see their company going in the future.
They are passionate. And passion followed by hard work is usually rewarded with money.
And as a society, we should be okay with that.
