In addition to the ice rental, the city benefits from a number of spin-offs from the movie business, including hotel stays, restaurant meals and other spending by the actors and crew. Locals selected to play extras in the stands get a per diem, too.
Goon was worth at least $250,000 to Portage, Porter said, but the PCU Centre itself has the potential to be worth much more to the city. In addition to co-hosting the under-18 World Hockey Championships last year, Porter said the rink will enable Portage to bid on other major hockey events in the future.
The mayor said he'd like to see the city expand into the trade-show business, too. He said its location, situated almost equidistant between Winnipeg and Brandon, is ideal to host events showcasing agricultural products and farm equipment.
Local officials are optimistic more permanent development is on the way, too.
"At this point we have more in the pipeline for economic development than we typically would have. Hopefully, we'll have a couple of larger announcements to make in the next couple of months," said Dale Lyle, city manager for Portage la Prairie.
Portage is perhaps best known for the potato-processing facilities of McCain Foods and Simplot Canada, which are also two of the region's biggest employers. (The two provide french fries for McDonalds, Wendy's and other fast-food chains.) Can-Oat Milling, one of the largest oat mills in the world, also has a plant in the municipality. Big-name retail arrivals in recent years include Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire and Canada Safeway.
Industrial push
Much of the region's success in attracting new development has been attributed to the tax revenue-sharing partnership between Portage la Prairie and surrounding municipalities. If a company sets up shop in Portage la Prairie, the city gets 60 per cent of the resulting tax revenue with 40 per cent going to the municipality. If the company builds in the municipality, the revenue split is reversed.
"Years ago, one of the biggest challenges was the fact that municipalities on their own often didn't have the services and other things needed for industries and businesses to develop," said Ken Keith, general manager of Central Plaines Inc., a regional development corporation owned by 11 area municipalities. "If you cluster together on a regional basis, now all of a sudden you've got a lot of resources that you can draw on for the entire region," he said.
Keith said the benefits from the tax-sharing agreement are largely why Simplot decided to double its potato production in the Poplar Bluff industrial park just outside of Portage la Prairie.
Sellers' market
It is a sellers' market in housing, noted Rhonda Lodwick. The president of the Portage la Prairie Real Estate Board and the owner of Century 21 Andrich Realty said there's a shortage of properties, especially bunglaows in the $100,000 to $150,000 range.
Some of that demand is coming from immigration. About 130 immigrants arrived last year and Porter is hoping to increase that number in 2011 with workers from Ukraine, Germany and Kazakhstan.
from Western Investor June 2011
