16 Southwest Progress Report 2012


Piecing Together the Social Fabric


States border, has been forgotten. When driving south via Highway 4 once through Cadillac


Val Marie is planning to succeed O


BY ELIZABETH HEATCOAT BY ELIZABETH HEATCOAT


n fi t im ressions V Ma e a villag S


k


n fi rst impressions Vall Mariie,, a village tucked in southwest corner of Saskatchewan near the United


ed into the U


he d


the roadway narrows, rough patches and potholes emerge and a number of farmyards in the area look as though the last owner just decided to get up, move and not look back. Hold on a minute! Don’t judge this book by its cover! A


group of residents from Val Marie and the surrounding area are starting to cry, “We are alive, we are a vibrant, and we have not been abandoned and forgotten.” T ose people organized in August of 2010 with the initial


goal of developing an economic development strategy for the area. T ere were a number of nay-sayers at fi rst. T ose who disagreed and felt


increasing economic development


activities would be a waste of time and energy. T ose people are the ones who were OK with being forgotten. As the word of mouth about the developing committee


spread like prairie fi re, as word oſt en spreads in a community of just over 100 people, the tune began to change. “Word-of-mouth got around, people were excited about the committee getting started, they knew something


needed to be done to promote tourism in the area and build community,” said Carrie Clausen, Val Marie’s Economic Development Offi cer. T e initial group then approached Southwest Community Futures and the Municipal Capacity Development Program to provide assistance and direction to get started.


needed to b a a


l M i be done t


uild co E


ty i D l t Offi Approximately, 35 people formed the


inaugural group. It was pared down to provide effi ciencies. As of October 2011, it consisted of one paid economic development offi cer, two members at large, and representatives of the Prairie Learning Centre, Prairie Wind and Silver Sage, the Village, the Rural Municipality, local business and the school. “Economic development is an important


component of community health,” said Karin Smith Fargey, Grasslands National Park, public relations communication offi cer. Val Marie, which has now been branded as


Photos by Elizabeth Heatcoat Photos by Elizabeth Heatcoat


“Where heaven meets earth,” is the gateway to Grasslands National Park. Grasslands hosts between 6,000 and 7,000 people each year. Visitors to Grasslands National Park come from across Canada and Europe to experience the purity of the native prairie. “Working with the Southwest Community Futures and


the Municipal Capacity Development people, showed us where to start,” said Clausen. T e Southwest Enterprise Region also organized forum discussions for all the regions economic development groups to network, connect and share ideas and inputs. “Without those connections like SWER, Community


Futures and Municipal Capacity Development we would probably be a group of 35 people trying to fi gure out what we want to do, where we want to go and where we want to start.” Clausen’s position is currently funded through the


Caitlin Mroz is the owner of the newly-opened Harvest Moon Café.


Southwest Economic Development Association (SEDA) apprenticeship program. As such, she has also had access to the Western Economic Development Training Course,


Main street Val Marie is small, but the businesses are steady and they have a plan to stay steady.


which has provided her with additional insight on focusing projects and working with stakeholders and partners. Since its inception, the Val Marie economic development


committee has been busy initiating projects, applying for grants and building further partnerships and connections with surrounding communities. T e fi rst step was conducting a survey about where the


residents wanted the focus to be. “It was really important to the get the community


feedback and buy in to what we were starting … if we want this to work, we need the community to feel like they are a part of it as well, said Clausen. It is an encouragement the MCDP recently shared


at a community presentation, where they stated that “improvement eff orts tend to be more eff ective and longer- lasting when they members of a community dedicate their time and skills to the changes they believe in.” Continued on Page 17


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