It’s been a winding path for new regional economic development officer Eve O’Leary.
The latest stop for her is the Flin Flon, Creighton and Denare Beach area – which she will now serve, aiming to boost economic growth in the region along with the Regional Economic Development Committee.
The new EDO began her post on Feb. 1, moving to the area after serving as executive director with the Nipawin Business Improvement District (NBID).
“We were working closely with the economic development department for the Town of Nipawin, working with a board of directors, grant writing,” she said.
O’Leary added that the NBID also led the way for developing and creating a new town square in Nipawin – one that received an Western Canada-wide award.
O’Leary has experience working with local and provincial government, earning accreditation status with the Saskatchewan government with the NBID’s Main Street program.
“Last year, I also worked on getting my Provincial Community and Economic Developers of Saskatchewan accreditation,” said O’Leary. “That really kind of helped me progress into this role.”
Originally from a small town in Ireland, O’Leary moved to Canada in 2014. She and her husband have already set down roots in the area, moving here with an aim to stay.
“I’m literally living the Canadian dream,” said O’Leary.
“It’s a fantastic country here. The quality of life is second to none. I really am very grateful to be here. We really, really love it here.”
In her time in the region, O’Leary is already impressed by her new surroundings.
“I love it. Everybody has just been amazing, very welcoming. The area is phenomenal. I’ve just been really, really enjoying it.”
O’Leary hopes to emphasize the advantages the region has and build on the municipalities’ strength, instead of focusing solely on weakness.
“I like to focus on what we have as a region and as a community and build on that. I don’t like to focus on what we don’t have.”
O’Leary’s first focus is singular: making a concrete strategy to follow on economic development.
“Really, until we focus on our economic development strategy, we won’t really know where we’re going in terms of how to diversify that. We just need to put the wheels in place in terms of planning.”
In the meantime, O’Leary has high hopes for her new home region.
“It’s an amazing community and people should be very proud of all the work they’ve accomplished so far. The amount of community events that happen, the amount of organizations, it’s just phenomenal. That community spirit is such an amazing thing to have.”
