Westman Business

3 OCTOBER 27, 2022 • WESTMAN BUSINESS • THE BRANDON SUN Developing a path forward While the last couple years have presented unprecedented challenges, economic development and growth in Brandon shows reason to be optimistic. Economic Development Brandon has two goals — to grow the economy and grow the population of the city. Throughout the pandemic, Director of Economic Development Brandon Sandy Trudel said the interest in what Brandon has to offer was still extreme - ly high, and now that some hurdles are being removed they're seeing a return to pre-pandemic norms. "We're seeing our immigration num- bers returning which is a huge driver of our growth here, we're seeing stability within our existing businesses, and with that stability comes that confidence to make investments, to grow, to bring on more people — so all of those things are great cues for us," Trudel said. While the economic community is ex - periencing disruptions due to inflation, supply chain constraints, and linger- ing labour challenges, Trudel said they work to build a healthy business envi- ronment and to help existing business- es succeed. "We work two-pronged in that we're trying to make sure that environment exists and then being proactive in actu- ally doing that outreach to businesses," Trudel said. " We're helping our existing businesses flourish, while at the same time trying to attract new industry in." BY ERIN DEBOOY We're helping our existing businesses flourish, while at the same time trying to attract new industry in." – SANDY TRUDEL DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CITY OF BRANDON Samuel Solomon, RNIP Coordinator, Deb Day, Economic Development Assistant, Dan Fontaine, Business Development Specialist, and Sandy Trudel, Director of Economic Development, at the Economic Development Brandon office at Brandon City Hall. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun) » Continued on Page 4

• Cover