ESTEVAN — Estevan city council heard more about progress on economic development in the community during the Dec. 18 meeting.
Southeast Techhub executive director Gordon More and economic development co-ordinator Angud Singh discussed their efforts and how those will benefit Estevan.
More opened by discussing the different speakers the Techhub has hosted during the year through the Innovation Conversation series. All of the presentations can be found on the Techhub' website, and he noted a presentation on small modular reactors (SMRs) has been particularly interesting.
The Techhub held a pitch competition in November, with two students from the Carnduff Education Complex taking top spot for their portable irrigation project. Techhub has also held workshops to help prospective entrepreneurs with everything from business start-up to public speaking.
More also talked about the robotics and drones initiatives. The robotics are moving along well, he said. Students built a dog that looks more like a cat and created a three-foot humanoid with the help of a 3-D printer.
"The goal is the students will be walking a robot across the stage at our conference, and also … to have the robot play hockey on Rafferty [Dam] while holding a Tim Hortons [cup]," said More.
The conference More referred to will be the Innovation Conference on Energy Development Sept. 10-12, with a focus on SMRs, geothermal, microgrids, carbon capture and storage and more.
A separate one-day conference will be held next year at the Southeast College's Estevan campus to give mining, manufacturing, and oil and gas companies information on what they need to become part of the supply chain. The Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan), the National Research Council, SaskPower and the Saskatchewan Industrial and Mining Suppliers Association are scheduled to be present.
In January and February, More will host miniature Innovation Conversations on artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and 3-D printing.
He is looking to set up an organic chemistry lab in Estevan, and SaskPower has donated $300,000 in equipment.
The drone club meets each Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the Wylie-Mitchell building, although it is on a break for Christmas.
Coun. Rebecca Foord said More has made people ask some difficult questions and he's been unafraid to answer them.
"I think it's really helping educate people in our community just on things that we don't know about, a lot of things that have been different, and a lot of things that are coming down the pipe for us," said Foord.
Coun. Shelly Veroba attended a couple of the workshops and said they were very informative. She was also very impressed with the pitch competition.
Coun. Kirsten Walliser said people wonder who the presentations are for and they don't feel comfortable. More said they're for everybody, as his job for years was to translate from a person or a business to a programmer, and vice-versa. He doesn't want people to feel overwhelmed by technology.
Singh started by talking about Class 1A truck driver training, which has been broached at the economic development board meetings. There have been discussions on how it can be done locally.
"Short term, Councillor [Tony] Sernick and I have spoken with several employers in the region, putting together all of the different pieces, putting together the funding piece, the training piece, and then having the employers hopefully send an ideal candidate to the program for training," said Singh.
Three large employers in the local trucking industry are currently considering the project and sending a driving candidate for a 1A.
He has had conversations with the Advanced 1A Driver Training Centre in Weyburn, and the individual who runs the program has four available slots to send candidates. But Singh wants to have the program here, rather than having people going to other communities. There have been conversations with Mayor Roy Ludwig, city manager Jeff Ward and the Southeast College, and he has spoken to the Southeast College.
"The costs on this program are quite large and we want to make sure funding is possible to implement it here," said Singh.
Another economic development project is looking at converting lignite coal to graphite. Details are being worked out to send coal mined here to selected partners. RFPs have been completed, and are being evaluated; Singh said it looks "promising".
"We're just exploring the possibility of taking advantage of this opportunity and producing graphite … finding markets for graphite and hopefully yielding profits," he said.
Singh has also submitted an application for targeted sector support. The city has asked for $45,000 in federal money for a series of roundtable discussions and workshops on energy transition that would be at the Southeast College. The Town of Carnduff would be a partner on the project. Best practices in the energy transition and opportunities from energy transition initiatives would be covered.
And the city has applied for additional funding for downtown revitalization in the 1100 and 1200 blocks of Fourth Street that would improve facades and esthetics of storefronts, increase accessibility and more.
The money is for accessibility and is different from other grants the city has pursued for downtown upgrades.
Economic Development is looking to host an event in the spring along the concourse at Affinity Place that would include a trade show and networking to help home-based businesses get some exposure. Singh said the event could help create value for business licences.
The city is also looking to further marketing for Southeast Business Start-up and the economic development website.
Veroba pointed out that when she ran for council for the first time in 2016, there was debate as to whether Estevan needed an economic development officer. She believes Singh's efforts are proof that it's money well spent.
Coun. Lindsay Clark noted Estevan might be in transition, but it's good to see the city being proactive on this issue, and he thanked More and Singh for their efforts.
