The Yorkton Chamber of Commerce's most recent luncheon took place during Small Business Week in Saskatchewan, so it only makes sense that it celebrated the success of businesses in the province. Twila Reddekopp, Editor and Publisher of Sask Business Magazine spoke at the event about what she has seen change in the province's business community.
Reddekopp says that the province has long been survivors, and that even in lean times in the province has been successful in pulling through. However, she says the current boom in the province has been because of changing attitudes.
While the tides were turning before the change, Reddekopp believes that the change from NDP to Sask Party governments was a big part of the change in the province's fortunes, because it was an outward demonstration of the way the province was changing and becoming more business focused.
"I think the biggest thing with the Sask Party coming in was that almost overnight it put a sign up over Saskatchewan that said we were now open for business. People had slowly been building up to that, but it changed everybody else's mind set looking in on Saskatchewan," Redde-kopp says.
She says that in her own experience with a business magazine, one of the big changes she sees is that business owners in the province are becoming increasingly open about discussing their businesses and their successes. Saskatchewan is humble but proud, Reddekopp says, but for the most part people were willing to compliment neighboring provinces while quietly moving forward with their own businesses.
"It's a total mindset shift of everybody, not just small or medium sized businesses."
Saskatchewan itself is weighted heavily towards small business, and Reddekopp says this is likely due to the way the province is made up, with many spread out smaller centers. She says that as people see needs in their own communities and find solutions to issues where they live, small businesses are born.
