Issue link: http://tourismwpg.uberflip.com/i/976794
YES! WINNIPEG 7 to be successful. The corporation can no longer afford to be distracted by low-hanging fruit at the expense of harder-to-reach but lasting sustenance. If YES! Winnipeg can help attract specialized firms that employ highly educated, well-paid workers, other support-level jobs will follow. EDW's reset is not unlike the changes brewing within the relatively new Manitoba government. Our province has a premier who for the first time in a long time is intent on creating real economic growth. EDW's president and CEO, Dayna Spiring, is in regular contact with Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Blaine Pedersen to create alignment, define priorities and spearhead greater cooperation. Recognizing the ineffectiveness of an overextended economic portfolio, the province made the decision in 2016 to focus on just five industry sectors: aerospace, advanced manufacturing, agribusiness, ICT and creative industries. EDW followed suit by recalibrating its previously all-encompassing mandate to mirror the province's more streamlined approach. This strategy makes sense. Collectively, the GDP of these five industry sectors totals $9.3 billion, which represents 26 per cent of Winnipeg's aggregate GDP. They employ over 105,000 people—26 per cent of the city's 425,000-strong workforce—within nearly 8,500 companies. But the rationale for this focus goes beyond the current stats. As Winnipeg looks to the future, these are the industry sectors that will best define and differentiate our city in the Industry 4.0 age. Laying a proper foundation for their success today could have a definitive impact across all aspects of Winnipeg's diversified economy in the years ahead. With this in mind, EDW and the Manitoba government are working together to ensure Winnipeg's most persuasive value propositions are communicated locally, regionally and internationally. Collaborating this closely with the province is new to EDW, and the results achieved to date are encouraging. "You can't be all things to all people," as the saying goes. Moving forward, this willingness to make tough choices about the companies YES! Winnipeg solicits and assists will allow its sales professionals to devote more of their time and expertise to closing high-value clients.