smart | city Economic Development Winnipeg debuts


affordable women’s leadership event, SHEday EDW believes the potential of Winnipeg’s women could be enhanced by embracing the “lean in” concept By Brenlee Coates


American presidential race, Hillary Clinton, coming to inspire the same month as SHEday. But how often can you access such an event – and get lunch, snacks, and a corporate headshot – for $39? “We wanted to create an affordable opportunity,” says


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Marina James, CEO of Economic Development Winnipeg, which founded the event debuting Jan.15. “Many of us have participated in women’s conferences that have come through Winnipeg over the years (and) most of them cost $900. “We wanted to create an opportunity for entrepreneurs,


pre-executive and executive women to hear from our pow- erful women and our powerful, topical speakers.” Tat’s another point of pride for SHEday: the speakers


are hyper-local – they’re all executives who’ve climbed to the peak of their careers right here in Winnipeg. One such speaker, Barbara Bowes, is the president of


her company, Legacy Bowes Group, and had the added challenge of entering the business world as a relative un- known with an education degree – something she said was completely dismissed in the corporate sphere. A huge part of getting to where she is today was about


making herself known – which is almost easier these days due to social media platforms, though it requires more dis- cipline. “Wherever you go, whatever you do, you’re always marketing yourself,” says Bowes. “You’re on exhibit for the whole world to see. “You have to be effective at self-marketing so you get to


be known (and) gain a lot of respect.” Bowes will share her tips for self-marketing with the


crowd at SHEday, which is growing by the day. “We’re faced with having to increase the size already,” says James. Te original venue was outgrown shortly after the an-


nouncement was made about SHEday and it sold out ex- peditiously. Plans are already underway to continue with annual SHEday events, which will shift in focus from year to year, but remain affordable and relevant to a range of professional and pre-professional women.


Barbara Bowes will speak at the first annual event.


ure, there have been professional development semi- nars for women in town before. And there’s even a speech from a likely candidate for the upcoming


Leaning in Economic Development Winnipeg and Bowes have


both grabbed on to the “lean in” concept, developed in the book of the same title by Sheryl Sandberg. As Bowes puts it, “I’ve always reached out to help others – other women in particular. Helping other people be successful has helped me become more successful.” In other words, the more women empower each other


and become top-of-mind in each other’s networks, the more everyone wins out. Women still make up about one out of every six senior


positions in the workforce, and boards of directors are lagging even further behind around 10 to 12 per cent, says James. While Winnipeg is a leader in so many ways for avail-


able programming for women entrepreneurs, the city could embrace the lean in concept further, she says. “What we don’t exemplify is that lean in mentality: women supporting women. “Still women are perceived as bossy – that’s really just


leadership,” she points out. Local speakers at SHEday include Clare MacKay of


Te Forks North Portage, David Baker, CEO of Tink Shift, Denise Zaporzan of Denise Zaporzan & Associ- ates, and Gail Stephens, interim president and CEO of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. “Some of the issues we’ll touch on are not gender is-


sues,” reminds James. “Being a good coworker, being a mentor… are genderless. “I hope (attendees) feel supported, and then I hope


they realize they need a plan. “(The speakers) are women (and men) that have


worked really hard to move their platform… they are Winnipeg icons.” To inquire about tickets to hear these Winnipeg icons speak, visit www.economicdevelopmentwinnipeg.com.


Let’s talk development with transit in mind The downtown’s successful development will depend on putting public transit interests in the forefront


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ur city is changing. Developers and decision makers are realizing that there needs to be better balance between urban sprawl and creating more density and infill in our downtown and older neighbourhoods. And our city has elected a new


mayor who is fully aware of this and is prepared to make bold investments in rapid transit, cre- ating development opportunities that will benefit everyone. Tere are certain financial re-


Downtown Stefano Grande


alities that are now clear. Density creates more taxes per hectare – anywhere from 10 to 25 per cent more for a city – and as a result, city operating costs are less. In a time of government budget crisis, proper land use development is the key to the future sustainabil-


ity of our city, in every sense of this word. All city infrastructure is already in place in neighbour-


hoods like our downtown and the inner city. But there is more than this. Density and great design creates vibrancy and great neigh-


bourhoods, more small and unique businesses, and cooler places to spend time, leading to increased property values and, yes, increased property taxes too. Te research is there. But still there’s more to think about. Creating affordable housing is a challenge as construc-


tion costs and land development costs continue to rise. Car ownership costs are climbing, and despite a recent down- turn, gas prices are high, too. Have you noticed even the car congestion lately? Baby boomers are downsizing and millennialism will lead


the way to new markets, too. Building dense neighbourhoods around rapid transit is a solution where people of all incomes can take full advantage of vibrant neighbourhoods built for the movement of people – a city where rapid transit comple- ments and is at the core of people’s values for live, work, and play in their neighbourhoods. Tis is known as TOD: transit oriented development. Tis is the bold vision, and we need to give our mayor a


chance. TOD plays an important role in cities by addressing significant and pressing transportation, housing and envi- ronmental issues, benefitting citizens as well as communities by capitalizing on the sustainable goals of government, and


4 Smart Biz


The first battery-powered buses are en route. Four zero-emission transit buses will be in operation by the end of January running the airport route.


in turn, creating more vibrant and exciting places for people. And it's not a far-fetched dream. In fact, cities that people


fall in love with today like Rome, Paris, Denver, Portland, Van- couver, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton – and many more – are capitalizing on what people want and where they want to live. And the pieces are falling into place as Winnipeg pioneers


have slowly been pressing for TOD and rapid transit in today’s marketplace. Winnipeg and downtown is in a good position to capitalize on these trends. Take for example: • Rapid transit is back on track • Graham Avenue Mall, Downtown’s Transit Mall, is evolv-


ing and is now home to the largest drivers of economic growth in our city: -MTS Centre: 1.5 million visitors per year -Millennium Library: Home to over one million visitors


per year -Te expanding RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg -Some of downtown’s largest employers are located on its


doorstep: Manitoba Hydro, Manitoba Public Insurance and the Winnipeg Police Service • Downtown’s largest housing development, SkyCity Centre


Winnipeg, is on its way (a condo project by MADY and Fortress Real Developments)


www.smartbizwpg.com • SHED is being developed, the city’s sports, hospitality and


entertainment district • The Forks Renewal: Redevelopment of Parcel 4 lands will


integrate Te Forks with its surrounding neighbours into one of our city’s most incredibly designed mixed-use neighbour- hoods. Greater ease of movement and continuity of develop- ment with the area is necessary for Te Forks to become an integral part of our city. Where we are headed depends on our ability to focus in on


best practices and understand the TOD lessons from other cities as opposed to pursuing our dreams based on opinion and local interpretation. Where we are headed depends on a new breed of develop-


ers, from within and out-of-town, realizing the market op- portunity for such an approach and in turn, helping to create and realize the vision for our downtown and city of tomorrow. Local and national experts discussed implementation


strategies at the inaugural Transit Oriented Development Summit. A full report will be made available on the Down- town Winnipeg BIZ’s website. Are you ready to learn, listen, and dream about a changing


city? Are you ready to help make a difference? Stefano Grande is executive director of the Downtown Win-


nipeg BIZ. January 2015 While many things have changed since she started


making her corporate climb 27 years ago, “a woman still has to work twice as hard,” says Bowes. Barbara Bowes’ expertise is in human resources, career development and executive search, so her advice will be extremely useful to women who want to get noticed for leadership roles.


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