The RM of Portage la Prairie received Portage Regional Economic Development's quarterly report at last week's meeting.

Executive Director Vern May brought Council up to date on the organization's activities since he took the position.

At the top of the list was acknowledging the negative perception of PRED, and May admits he expected some struggles.

"I've been very encouraged by the warmth and enthusiasm of all of the organizations in Portage la Prairie and individuals," he says, "So we spent the first two weeks on the job just listening, and finding out, from their perspective, where did this relationship fall off the rails, and how do we remedy that. After we reviewed all of that feedback, it really came down to a few common threads, and it didn't take very much change to set the course right."

May points to clarifying PRED's focus as key.

"The first thing was identifying that PRED is not community development -- we are economic development," he says, "Definitely, there are some tie-ins and relationships, but we don't need to re-create the work that is being done by PRRA or PCRC. And the second thing was identifying that PRED does not compete-- it's not a sustainable model. So, we need to be supporting each other, rather than competing with one another."

May also talked about Roquette being a large focus recently.

"And certainly, we can't minimize a $400,000,000 investment," he says, "But Roquette is just one of 13 files that are currently open on my desk right now, for potential interest for new investment from outside parties that want to come to Portage la Prairie and region, as well as working with the existing businesses with the growth and expansion plans that they have."

The quarterly presentation's here.