Hopkins: Recent announcements have Regina well-positioned post-pandemic

The last few weeks have been big ones for the City of Regina when it comes to investment.

Brandt announced it plans on hiring hundreds of new employees in Regina and Saskatchewan, Red Leaf Pulp has selected Regina for a $350 million wheat straw pulp mill, Cargill will be building a new canola processing centre here as will Viterra.

The four projects mean a lot of jobs will be coming to Regina with the city’s economy growing as a result.

It is news that obviously pleases Regina and District Chamber of Commerce CEO John Hopkins.

He says we are seeing what we are because the mindset in the Saskatchewan agriculture community has changed.

“Farmers and producers started to change and diversify their crop production which had an impact.” Hopkins said. “It has changed the outlook in Saskatchewan and it has been nothing but positive.”

While the announcements are great and will be greater when the shovel is put into the ground to get construction going for Red Leaf, Viterra and Cargill, Hopkins feels there is much more that can be achieved.

“We are on the cusp of bigger things as we move ahead on the agricultural side.” Hopkins said.  “We’re not at the end.  We see a lot of positive things happening here in the future with an opportunity to grow and not just create entry level jobs, but careers and other business opportunities not just today but for years to come.  It is great to see how we are being perceived and that we have become a destination of choice for those in the agriculture industry with a lot of players seeing what the provincial and local government are saying when it comes to growth.”

 

 

More from 620 CKRM