Community Leaders

C M Y K WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2019 COMMUNITY LEADERS 5 C M Y K Phone: 204-428-6030/1-800-558-4680 Website: southport.ca Email: info @ southport.ca Phone: (204) 272-5095 Website: biomb.ca Email: info@biomb.ca (Top) Southport Aerospace Centre operates as a not-for-profit corporation and reinvests all of its profits back into the facility. (Bottom) Southport has recently added a number of new home developments while the Central Plains RecPlex now boasts a modern five-pin bowling alley. Economic impact of Southport Southport Aerospace Centre Inc. is a major economic driver in the region, generating $170 million of total economic impact per year. In February 2017, Southport released an economic impact study that measured the spending, employment and economic output of Southport through an analysis of 2016 operations. The results of the study indicated through direct, indirect and induced impact, Southport contributed a total of 970 jobs, (920 full-time equivalents) $52 million in income, $103 million in gross domestic product (GDP) and $170 million in economic output on an annual basis. Compared to the last study (2012), Southport increased in every category assessed by the report. Economic impact surged up by $11 million, GDP expanded by $17 million, income increased by $3 million, and 30 new jobs were added. The most recent study differed from the 2012 version by examining the specific impact of military flight training at Southport. The report found that a significant portion of Southport's economic impact stems from the RCAF program and its related services. For example, 350 of 570 direct jobs at Southport are related to military flight training and its services. In addition, the program contributes $22 million in income, $48 million of GDP, and $70 million in economic output. BY PAT REDIGER Southport Aerospace Centre Inc. has taken the former Canadian Forces Base (CFB) in Portage la Prairie to new heights, and the future looks bright. Southport Aerospace Centre Inc. (Southport) began as a Canadian Forces Base that was poised for shutdown in the late 1980s. When the surrounding community discovered the news of the impending shutdown, they rallied as a committee to save the base. They successfully lobbied the government, spurring the creation of Southport to keep military flight training in the area. "Since 1992, Southport has operated as a not-for- profit corporation and as such, Southport reinvests all of its profits back into our airport and site allowing us to continually modernize and upgrade," says CEO Peggy May. Training for Royal Canadian Air Force pilots continues to be conducted on site, ensuring the rich military history of Southport will remain prevalent into the future. Each morning, over 600 people arrive on site, ready to start their day at one of the dozen businesses located in Southport which include health administration, education and training, manufacturing, addictions counselling, and childcare and support services for the military flight training contract. For those that choose to reside in Southport, there are numerous short and long-term housing options available. For some residents, work and home are a short walk apart on the many walking paths throughout the community, making the commute a breeze. In the past year, Southport has undertaken several major projects. This past fall, Southport added two new duplex style housing units to its existing 188- unit portfolio. The new neighbourhood, named Centennaire South, offers a desirable blend of upscale living within a peaceful country setting. Southport also recently renovated Mynarski House, one of its three accommodation buildings, which now offers 32 modernized guest rooms available to visitors in the area or students attending one of the colleges on site. Central Plains RecPlex now boasts a modern five- pin bowling alley, known as Southport Bowl that features digital scoring and wide screen televisions. May says they were striving to give the alley a fun, modern feel and the glow bowling has appealed to residents and general public alike. The modern RecPlex also offers a wide variety of programs including gymnastics classes, a nine-metre rock climbing wall, fitness equipment, walking track, food kiosk and a daycare. This spring, construction will begin on a new aircraft hangar at Southport. The project is to be completed by November 2019. The 14,000-square- foot hanger is being built to accommodate aircraft operations on site. "The majority of our airport is used for military flight training which we take great pride in," May says. "With an influx of economic activity in Portage la Prairie, we are seeing executive aircraft more often and we want to be able to provide them with the services they require." The biggest announcement Southport has made of late is that Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) pilot training would continue to be offered on site well past the current contract that extends to 2027. As May explains, this has strong historical significance for the community and was important for those invested in Southport. "Southport will continue to provide military flight training on site and the approximately 350 jobs that come with it," May says. "This achievement would not have been possible without the advocates for Southport, the support of politicians and an inspiring show of community support." With numerous plans beginning to take shape, this former military base is well-positioned to accommodate future operations and customers. Southport's leadership ensures that the business centre and community will have a strong foundation into the future as well. Southport remains true to its original mandate to support the community by maintaining and growing its businesses. This is shown with the many recent developments that have unfolded, May says, adding that the future is bright for Southport. ❚ SOUTHPORT STIMULATES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN PORTAGE BY JENNIFER MCFEE Manitoba's bioscience industry is booming, with no end in sight to the growth. BioScience Association Manitoba (BAM) is contributing to this progress by providing training programs and networking opportunities to its 110 member organizations across the province. "We are an industry organization that works with companies and research institutes to reach the underlying goal of helping them become more successful," says President Tracey Maconachie. "The companies that we work with are looking at global challenges like how we heal, feed and fuel the world. We help smooth their path so that their amazing ideas can actually become a solution in today's world." This vision all began over 25 years ago when a group of individuals came together to start a training organization for health-care products. Since then, the non-profit organization has grown to employ eight experts. Even more talented professionals will likely come on board within the next year to meet the growing demand. "We get to work with leaders in their own technical spaces," Maconachie says. "They inspire and motivate us so we can help them to achieve their goals." In recent years, BioScience Association Manitoba has begun to focus on working with more agricultural organizations. "They're working to take the crops that are produced here and make that food more available globally. We refer to that as 'healthy food ingredients' that help feed the world with Manitoba agriculture," Maconachie says. "Our goal is to have those companies realize success. Our successes aren't directly our own. We're driving for the success of the people and organizations that we work with." As a training organization, BioScience Association Manitoba provides a leadership course to its member companies as well as to all of its employees. "Leadership is a challenge for everybody," Maconachie says. "Through this course, they gather some understanding of their own selves and their own personality, which helps them learn to be a better leader." And at BioScience Association Manitoba, all employees need to be ready to embrace leadership roles. "We're a small organization, so there's not a lot of room for somebody who can't move things forward. They need to have some independence and creative thoughts. Because of the quality of people that we work with, the team really has to be cutting-edge, otherwise they're not going to be able to fulfill the needs of our clients," Maconachie says. "We truly value training and do our best to enable people to make decisions on their own wherever possible. We facilitate, help and encourage our team to become leaders and to develop their leadership skills." Within the business community, the BioScience Association of Manitoba aims to take on projects that support its mission to help bioscience companies. In January, the organization hosted an event called Funding Day, which helped to connect companies with additional resources to support their success. Representatives from approximately 65 companies attended the event, which follows a speed-dating format. In total, about 800 seven-minute meetings took place throughout the day. "It's very impactful. In addition to bioscience, we also had people there from the IT sector as well as manufacturing and traditional food sectors. It's a good program and there's no reason that it should just be limited to the companies that are members," Maconachie says. "We try to do lots of outreach and make sure that people are aware of it, regardless of whether they work directly with us or not. We want to be a part of this community as a whole to support entrepreneurs and to support people who are building solutions." In Maconachie's opinion, leadership hinges on the capacity to make decisions. "It's the ability to be faced with a challenge and think through your possible solutions and alternatives. I think that if we had more capacity for that as a community, we would be more cohesive," she says. "For me, leadership is not about one person leading and other people following. Instead, it's about people in general being able to look at challenges and opportunities to find the best solution." Although their focus is within the bioscience realm, the ripple effect of their work extends far beyond. "We always try to say yes when we are asked to assist an organization that's working on something that aligns with our mandate," Maconachie says. "We're mission-focused and our purpose is to serve the community. I hope the work we do will help everybody in this community at some point. That's what motivates us every day." ❚ What is bioscience? In the bioscience industry, companies endeavour to develop solutions to global challenges, such as issues related to health care, food development, environment, sustainability amongst others. They oen explore overarching topics such as how to heal, feed and fuel the world. Throughout the province, 13,000 Manitobans are employed in the bioscience sector, earning an average wage of $64,000 per year. In total, bioscience industry revenues exceed $9 billion annually. BioScience Association Manitoba supports 110 member organizations across the province. These organizations aim to find solutions in areas of agriculture, health and clean biotechnology. Their explorations delve deeply into areas that affect people close to home and around the world. They seek answers to a range of questions, such as: • How do we grow crops with a less negative effect on the environment? • How do we produce food that is more nutritionally dense? • How can we come up with alternatives to traditional chemicals using a plant-based biochemical or bio-composite? • How can we efficiently approach disease treatment and diagnosis? • What solutions can we learn from data analysis? BAM BUILDING LEADERS IN BIOSCIENCE BioScience Association Manitoba president Tracey Maconachie says her organization's primary goal is to help companies in this province achieve success.

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