They are not quite pushing the reset button, but a recently completed economic development plan by the Estevan Chamber of Commerce has set a future path for the organization.
The chamber, along with its partners at the City of Estevan and RM of Estevan, have been hard at work on the plan for well over a year.
Chamber director Michel Cyrenne said that work has led to three priorities that will be their focus in the future.
Overall, Cyrenne said he is pleased with the final document and looks forward to putting their work into action.
"It's good to have specific direction from the City and RM," Cyrenne said. "This gives us more specific intangibles where we know exactly what we are doing going forward. It's exciting and it's a bit of a relief too that we know exactly what is expected of us, and if we are delivering, they can be happy with that and if we don't, we both know it.
"It's almost a fresh start where we can say this is exactly what we are focusing on."
Cyrenne said they initially had a list of seven goals but condensed it to three focal points, which each have three specific initiatives.
The first goal is investment attraction promotion, which will centre on creating a good business environment in Estevan and area. Cyrenne said among the initiatives falling under that topic is the creation of the Estevan Energy Expo.
"It would be a bi-annual conference on the opposite years of the Weyburn (Oil Show)," he said. "It will not be exclusive to oil, it will showcase our broader energy assets like geo-thermal, coal mining, potash along with oil and gas. We are looking at doing that in June of next year."
The second initiative is to focus on attracting more retail and entertainment investment to the city. Cyrenne said Estevan is unique among many Saskatchewan communities due to its younger populace and higher income levels, and he feels there are many opportunities for increasing the number of retail and entertainment offerings.
The third initiative is for the chamber to attend more conferences and trade shows to highlight the local investment opportunities.
Cyrenne added their second goal touches on labour recruitment and retention, which he noted is probably the biggest issue facing Estevan businesses. He noted one of their initiatives is to develop a student workforce.
"Our strategy is to streamline that shift from education to the workforce," said Cyrenne, who added the chamber has been working with a number of local educators on the matter. "We have been trying to identify what are some of the hurdles in going from high school to further education or to the workforce and trying to come up with some strategies so we can deal with those issues."
Cyrenne said the chamber will also work to attract more international students to the area.
"That would be more of a long-term solution but we have been working with the regional college and business to attract and develop prospective employees that we can train here and enter them into the workforce."
On the retention side, Cyrenne said they plan to work with the City on a beautification strategy that will place a focus on roads, parks and pathways.
The third goal is business growth, development and retention, which places an emphasis on creating a positive business environment.
Cyrenne said they would like to re-focus on promoting Estevan as Saskatchewan's energy capital.
"We want to focus on the advantages we have and come up with a specific branding initiative and make sure that the energy industry and Estevan are synonymous nationally and even internationally," said Cyrenne, who added they will also do more to promote the city's story.
"We have a unique story here in terms of the economy. We want to brag about that and let the world know what is going on here and let them know there is great investment opportunities and career opportunities here."
Although the four other goals - which touched on such matters as infrastructure and the revitalization of downtown Estevan - are not focal points at the moment, Cyrenne said they will be placed on the backburner until work on the first is completed.
As for how the chamber will go about implementing the development plan, Cyrenne said they are working with a firm from Regina on an implementation strategy.
"We want to make sure that we can identify if success and progress is being made on each event. Our two local councils here invest in the chamber of commerce in terms of a contract for economic development and I am sure they want to see a return on that.
"Council will be aware of how good of a job we are doing, or not doing if that is the case, and it helps them in terms of resources for the future. We want to make sure that we have got timetables on everything so we can say that by this time next year, this is the stage we should be at."
The chamber is also resuming its monthly meetings on the second Wednesday of each month at Allies Fine Dining. This month's speaker is Tim Cheeseman, who will speak on the RM of Estevan's official community plan.
