A collection of southwest rural municipalities partnered together to combat challenges and embrace opportunities and are reaping the benefits.

Two years after joining forces, the RM of Carmichael, the RM of Webb, the RM of Gull Lake, and the Town of Gull Lake now have a virtual collaborative space to share crucial information with each other and the public. 

The Gull Lake Rural and Regional Alliance website shows what the region has to offer as a collective, rather than as each individual community. 

Economic Development Officer for the Town of Gull Lake, Lindsay Alliban, said that what started off small has led to something bigger. 

“We just started having meetings because we see the importance of regional cooperation and partnership,” she said. “So, we just started identifying opportunities, challenges and kept each other informed of ideas and information that we could use as a collective.” 

The discussions ultimately identified multiple opportunities for government funding, to help create even more possibilities for the group.

Provincial funding came through the Targeted Sector Support Grant, allowing the alliance to bring in presenters.

Their new website is thanks to the federal CanExport Fund; Alliban said they were able to not only create the site, but also collect video and photo content for it.

“We just want everyone to know that we're working towards shifting the mindset of community to have larger borders,” she added. “And how we all work together really well and do a lot of things collaboratively already. This just kind of formalizes it so we can share the information with the world.” 

Their next move is working with the Ministry of Trade and Exports to help spread the news to potential investors or new residents, and the provincial government to highlight the region. 

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