It's time for them to work together.
An event held by Prairie Innovation Enterprise Region (PIER) in LeRoy on June 23 explained a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between PIER and BHP Billiton, the company building a new potash mine in the LeRoy-Jansen area.
The MOU focuses on a collaboration between the two bodies relating to procurement, labour, housing, education and training, as well as other projects that support healthy and sustainable communities.
"As a community, we believe it is important to work together," said Bruce Elke, chairperson of Mid Sask. Municipal Alliance (MSMA).
The event focused on the Business Capacity Listing Project portion of the MOU.
This project will be managed by PIER and will assist BHP in sourcing from local suppliers.
"For us, the local community and business is very important, very crucial," said Serge Pelletier, lead community liaison with BHP. "For us, PIER is a great vehicle to reach our goal."
The Business Capacity Listing will be a comprehensive list of all businesses in PIER, information regarding primary products and services, certifications and capacity. It will be available on the PIER website.
This list will help enable BHP Billiton, their contractors and the public to use local businesses for any ongoing and future projects.
"We will use the software for further organization, management and analysis of business," said Tony Baumgartner, VP of sector development for Enterprise Saskatchewan.
The software was provided to PIER by Enterprise Saskatchewan.
"Through the utilization of this software, (we have the capacity) to assist BHP Billiton in using local products and services in the construction and operation of the Jansen mine."
"We'd like to commend Enterprise Saskatchewan for their foresight in procuring (the software)," said Joanne Forer, PIER board chair.
Everyone in the community is excited for the project and that BHP wants to support local businesses, said Morris Hartman, mayor of LeRoy.
"We invite you to look around our town and see what we have to offer," he said.
This project in PIER will be the first of its kind in the province.
After one year in this region, the results will be presented to Enterprise Saskatchewan. They will then use it as a model for addressing large scale development and business attraction in other Enterprise regions in the province.
"Everyone in our region is excited," said Forer.
They are all looking forward to the growth of local business in the community.
"We would like to see our communities grow, but continue our small-town atmosphere and quality of life," said Elke.
PIER and BHP both see a great future together.
"We want to create a healthy and sustainable future for the region," said Forer. "Moving forward I see a great co-operation between PIER and (BHP)."
