| We're #9!
MELFORT -- When Alberta-based BP Oilfab held a job fair prior to opening a manufacturing plant in Melfort last year, owner Peter Oakes interviewed a local man who was half-convinced the whole thing was a hoax. "Is this for real? The guys at work told me it would turn out to be an April Fool's joke," the applicant said. That attitude of defeat, well-honed by decades of reliance on a bumpy agricultural economy, will have to give way if this small city two hours northeast of Saskatoon is to staunch its population leak. Despite its position as a hub for farmrelated manufacturing, processing and services surrounded by some of Saskatchewan's best farmland, Melfort and the surrounding region lost 6.6 per cent of its population between 2001 and 2006, according to the latest national census released on Monday. "I don't think it's a surprise the population numbers are down in our area," said Perry Trusty, the city's economic development officer. The lure of Alberta's oil boom is likely the main cause, he said. "They probably went west." Lifelong resident Ryan Block, 28, can testify to that. There were about 70 people in his high school graduating class and only about five are still around, he said. "Everyone's going to Alberta. There's more money, better wages. It's hard to compete." Block's wife didn't want to leave, and it's a good place to raise their two kids, he says. But for young singles, the temptation to leave is much stronger. It took his wife two years to find a decent-paying job after their kids were born, and then it was only part-time. Rather than sit back and watch the exodus continue, Melfort's leaders have come up with a series of tax incentives and rebates to entice new business, encourage existing employers to expand and attract new families to settle there. Trusty doesn't have to think hard to come up with examples of bright future prospects for economic diversification. If ethanol production takes off in Saskatchewan, he sees the whole region taking an upswing -- with grain farmers selling their product to a local plant, the plant generating fuel and selling byproducts to cattle producers as feed and the cattle producers selling meat to nearby processors. There's also potential for a diamond mine to be developed a 45-minute drive away, a meat processing company is currently seeking equity to build a $15-million plant in the area and several companies like BP Oilfab are actively looking for skilled staff, Trusty said. "There are things happening out there. One of the ways to stem the tide is to take control of your own destiny. We think the tide has turned." The population may have decreased in the last five years, but new homes are going up in Melfort. When Oakes expanded his company from Ponoka, Alta., he was shocked to learn how cheaply he could build a new house in Melfort, where a 70-foot residential lot sells for as little as $15,000. On the used market, the average sale price for a home last year was $78,000. Oakes expects to hire up to 40 people as BP's new plant, located in a former farm implement dealership, takes on additional product lines. With modern technology, there's no need to locate close to the oilpatch, and after years of living and working in the crazy hurly-burly of the Alberta boom, the lower-stress lifestyle of a place like Melfort has an appeal of its own, he said. "It's amazing how many people are calling to say, 'We want to move back.' So we're hoping that fills the void." lcoolican@sp.canwest.com CITY STATS City % change Lloydminster (Sask.) .... 3.5 Saskatoon .................... 2.8 Swift Current ............. 0.8 Regina ........................... 0.6 Moose Jaw .................. 0.0 Prince Albert ..............-0.4 Yorkton ........................-0.5 Weyburn .....................-1.1 Estevan .........................-1.5 Humboldt ....................-3.2 North Battleford .......-3.7 Melfort .........................-6.6 Melville .........................-6.8 Flin Flon (Sask.) ..........-9.4 Source: StatsCan |