Business View Civil and Municipal | April 2021

95 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL APRIL 2021 THE RURAL MUNI C I PAL I TY OF HANOVER , MANI TOBA a very diverse agricultural economy which includes dairy, hogs, poultry, honey, potatoes, and sugar beets. That diversity has made the RM a leader in the production of these products in Manitoba, today. Hanover has produced hogs since the 1940s, but over the last 20 years the area has begun to specialize in pork and poultry production. This uptick in the industry created the need for agriculture-related services like feed mills, hatcheries, transportation, farm implements, and other agriculture services that make up the economic base of the RM today. A prime example is a poultry processing plant that employs more than 800 people in a village of just over 2,000 residents. The RM has built 12 new commercial shovel- ready properties for light industrial businesses this year and has already pre-sold 10. A private developer has recently built another near the provincial highway. The municipality received over $941,000 from the province to support the community through the COVID-19 pandemic and has put most of those funds into commercial land development to help small businesses expand. In addition, a lot of the money was given to local recreation groups. According to Luc Lahaie, CAO of the RM of Hanover, “Some of the money will be used to invest in upgrades for the municipal infrastructure and 90 percent of that money will go toward small business land