Portage la Prairie, Manitoba

PORTAGE LA PRA I R I E , MANI TOBA BVM: Are agriculture and food manufacturing the main drivers? May: “Yes. We’re in a really good spot here in terms of vegetable production, wheat, canola, oats, yellow peas; potatoes is huge because we have Simplot and McCain that both use tons of those. In fact, when Simplot finishes their expansion by the fourth quarter of 2019, Portage la Prairie will be the French fry capital of Canada. “The Manitoba Food Development Centre is also in our community. It’s provincially funded through the Dept. of Agriculture and is a huge asset. Entrepreneurs and small-scale operators can lease space from the Centre and do their production lines on a schedule basis; or move in and have a lease in the facility until they’re at a point where they have enough operation happening to build and develop their own site. It’s fantastic. Even for research, if someone is launching their own brand of salsa, for example, they can work with the food scientists at the Centre to commercialize that home recipe. They deal with everything from the food product, itself, to packaging and design for quality assurance and freshness. “People think of the prairies as being farmland, but one of the surprising things about Portage la Prairie is that we’re very close to Lake Manitoba, so there’s a huge opportunity for commercial fisheries within 16 miles. In other good news, the closure of the military air base in the ‘90s has become a huge attribute for us because a non- profit organization has come in from the private sector to manage and develop that property. Southport Aerospace and Properties have contract flight training for the military happening there, and now we have a Transport Canada certified airstrip and opportunities to do partnerships with the private sector around inbound and outbound flights. So, companies that are headquartered in the U.S. can fly their executive team directly into Portage la Prairie, visit their operations here, and fly out. It also lets us explore manufacturing opportunities in aerospace.”