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YES! WINNIPEG 3 Winnipeg's unprecedented momentum continues to attract international attention. Twice ranked a 'Top7 Intelligent Community' in the world by the Intelligent Community Forum, Winnipeg leads, innovates and inspires—and not just in one field but in many. Winnipeg's current roster of trailblazing companies includes manufacturing giants like Boeing and General Electric. Locally based New Flyer Industries has become North America's largest heavy-duty transit bus manufacturer, and RTDS Technologies introduced the world's first fully digital real-time power system simulator in 1989 and continues to be the unrivalled industry expert. ICT startups are also high on Winnipeg. SkipTheDishes' meteoric rise has disrupted North America's food- delivery business with its proprietary algorithms, Bold Commerce is helping online retailers sell goods through its Shopify and YouTube applications, Permission Click has revolutionized the way parents give consent for their children to participate in school-led field trips, and Farmers Edge is using big data to develop predictive modelling that helps farmers make more money. These successes complement an unprecedented building boom, with more than $2 billion of new investments spanning over 200 projects. Leading the pack is True North Square, a $400-million mixed-use development comprising of four distinct towers and an outdoor public plaza. Arguably the biggest investment ever in the city centre, construction of the first tower has started, a 17-storey, 365,000-square-foot LEED Gold building scheduled for completion in July 2018. ON TH E RI S E F OR AC TI ON AN D R E ADY A few blocks away, Artis REIT has ambitious ideas for its iconic Portage and Main location in downtown Winnipeg, with plans to spend about $200 million on a multiphase development that will see two new buildings join its existing property: a 40-storey apartment tower breaking ground this year and a two- to three-storey commercial building that could see a 25,000- to 30,000-square-foot grocery story on the main level together with a fitness centre and daycare facility occupying the other floor(s). Downtown Winnipeg and the surrounding area will experience important boosts from other developments as well, like the proposed $200-million, 45-storey SkyCity development. There's also the Manitoba Museum's recent $5.3-million expansion to Alloway Hall, the first stage of $160 million in planned improvements. Nearby, the $23-million Canada Games Sport for Life Centre is perhaps the most visible legacy of the sports spectacle hosted here in 2017. And well into the planning stages is a new $90-million Red River College innovation centre to be built in Winnipeg's historic Exchange District. Emanating steadily outward from the city centre are other exciting developments, among them Parmalat's nearly completed multimillion-dollar milk-processing facility in St. Boniface and the planned $70-million Canada's Diversity Gardens exhibit at Assiniboine Park. Also consequential are two green-lit infrastructure projects: Stage 2 of the $467-million southwest transit corridor, with a targeted completion date of 2019; and the $155-million Waverley underpass, set to address the traffic-related issues stemming from one of Canada's busiest main rail lines by 2020. Winnipeg is renowned for the high degree of collaboration evident between industry, government and institutions. Winnipeg's strength is its diversity, and its newest champions are writing history. Get inspired. And get ready to shape the future by working with YES! Winnipeg to capitalize on this unparalleled tipping point in our city.