Last week, the City of Portage la Prairie presented its Strategic Plan for the next three years at a luncheon that highlighted guest speaker and author Doug Griffiths. 

Mayor Sharilyn Knox says Council and Administration were excited to make the presentation after having worked on it for quite some time.

"We have some major priorities that are important to us," notes Knox. "We're focusing not just on projects. We're focusing on our community as a whole. We're focusing on things like quality of life, safety, of course, infrastructure, as well as economic development."

She explains this includes the implementation of a Community Safety Officer program. Knox says they're also investing in new development in Portage.

"We're investing in our infrastructure in our downtown," continues Knox. "This will all be public for people to see. We'll be putting it on the website. We'll be sharing the information. We just want our community to get involved and hear all about it."

Chairperson of the Portage and District Chamber of Commerce Guy Moffat says the plan looks quite positive.

"The thing I like about it is it, sort of, formalizes what's happening already," explains Moffat. "The Chamber and the City have been great partners, and Portage Regional Economic Development (PRED) has been there. We've been working closely with PCRC (Portage Community Revitalization Corporation). These things have been working in the background, anyway, and I'm excited to see that the City is formalizing those relationships in the process. Their strategic plan, I think, is going to give more power to the collective and allow us to do more."

Guy MoffatGuy Moffat

Moffat says the RM, City, PRED, PCRC, and the Chamber have come together to talk about how they can entice people and have people choose Portage as a place to live, as well as work. 

"I just think this is really exciting and it's a continuation of some of the great work that's happening," adds Moffat. "I think it will help to encourage great work in the future."

 

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