Moosomin and Rocanville join forces for Economic Development in the region
Gateway Economic Development
July 28, 2025, 8:59 am
Ashley Bochek
Moosomin Economic Development has amalgamated with the Town of Rocanville and RM of Rocanville to form Gateway Economic Development.
The committee encompasses the groups involved in Economic Development within the area and hope to involve more local communities in the future.
Casey McCormac, Moosomin’s Economic Development Officer, explains the idea behind approaching and joining forces with the RM and Town of Rocanville to grow Economic Development in the area.
“We started out as Moosomin Economic Development and it was the Town of Moosomin, the RM of Moosomin, and the Community Builders Alliance (CBA). We talked about how Economic Development isn’t just one thing for just Moosomin.
We need to think more regionally because what happens in Rocanville is a win for Moosomin like their indoor pool—Moosomin doesn’t need an indoor pool when there is one 20 minutes down the highway. So we approached a couple of different RMs and towns. We started with the Town of Rocanville and the RM of Rocanville and they wanted to give it a try so we are doing just this first year to try it out, but it is already going quite well so our funding is now Town of Moosomin, RM of Moosomin, Town of Rocanville, RM of Rocanville, and Community Builders Alliance. The RM of Rocanville and the Town of Rocanville share a quarter so everybody else is a quarter partner.”
The new committee decided to change its name to include all of the groups associated with this Economic Development board.
“When we did that, we were Moosomin Economic Development, but we didn’t think it was really fair to be Moosomin Economic Development when Rocanville is part of it now, so we rebranded to Gateway Economic Development, and the reason we didn’t just do Moosomin/Rocanville Economic Development is because in the future maybe we would look at adding other towns like Wapella or Whitewood for instance, so we wanted to keep it so that it wasn’t specific to any town, but specific to our region, and we figured ‘gateway’ because we are the gateway to Saskatchewan,” McCormac explained.
Moosomin Economic Development originally approached multiple RMs and communities within the area.
“In the beginning, we just approached the Town of Rocanville, the RM of Rocanville, and the RM of Martin—the RM of Martin declined, but the Town and RM of Rocanville were interested,” said McCormac. “Mayor Murray Gray and I went to Town of Rocanville council meeting and RM of Rocanville council meeting to explain what we were working on and then they were interested in trying it for the first year, and we have already had some luck with some wins.
“We didn’t do this necessarily for more funding because we still have the same budget we just split it between them, but I think it was just because economic development isn’t just for one specific town. I think a lot of what they push in economic development is a regional strategy because we are so close together that if Rocanville gets a new business it benefits Moosomin and vice versa. I know tons of people come from Rocanville to grocery shop or whatever and a lot of people from Moosomin go to Rocanville to Cornucopia Gardens and work at the mine, which is our major employer.”
Moosomin Economic Development
McCormac explains the previous years of Moosomin Economic Development.
“Moosomin Economic Development had been around for a couple years before I started. I believe it started in 2019 and so when they first started it was just the town and RM of Moosomin. They started with just council members and a board, I believe, and they didn’t actually have anyone that worked on economic development and then they joined with the CBA, and decided to hire the past Economic Development Officer, Greg Gillespie, that used to be here. They hired him just part-time. Then, when he retired the committee decided they wanted to hire a full-time EDO, so that is when I took over in 2022.”
Future projects in area
McCormac explains the future projects the Town of Rocanville and Moosomin are working toward.
“One of the major things that Rocanville said they wanted out of this is more housing, and we obviously knew that was coming because housing is an issue everywhere. So, when I go to Rocanville I work with Andrea Logan, their Rec Director, out of her office. They did have Rocanville Economic Development Organization (REDO) and so Andrea works on it a little bit, but she doesn’t have a whole lot of time being the Rec Director too, so then I’ve kind of stepped in to help with her and we’ve actually made some progress on the housing front. They have a local contractor that is wanting to put up some duplexes and triplexes in Rocanville starting this year. Andrea helped out a lot with that and Stan Langley is very helpful with that too.
“In Moosomin, we’re working on the day care—it’s a big part of what we’re working on. We are still working on the CT Scanner for Moosomin, housing as well, we are still working on that. We are definitely hitting our goals for the housing that the grant needs us to hit, but we aren’t all the way there yet so we need to focus on that and then after that is done we need to start focusing on some more residential development and developing new land probably, because we are going to run out of room.”
Teamwork toward growth in surrounding area
McCormac says she hopes this new committee adds to the continuous growth in the area.
“I just hope we grow our region into something and somewhere where people want to live and do business, a place where people want to raise their kids and grow old. I also think that we can be a pretty good example to other communities because I don’t think this happens a lot from what we’ve seen.
Especially, with the CBA because a lot of times private and public don’t work together so it is very unique in that way. Even joining with Rocanville is a pretty big win for us I would say because I think Moosomin and Rocanville, in the past, have kind of had the rivalry, maybe through hockey or whatever it was, but it is cool to see the two towns working side by side.
“It is just a combination of everyone working together and working on bigger and bigger projects. The more that we can be successful at smaller stuff the more bigger projects are easier for us to do.”
She says she spends some of her time in Rocanville to work on Economic Development there.
“I do try to go to Rocanville at least once a week for a couple of hours. I usually spend about five hours a week in Rocanville right now. I try to also go for the Rocanville Economic Development meetings as well.”
“When I am there I just work—Andrea has an extra desk in her office,” McCormac explained. “It is more so Andrea and I can talk to one another and figure out some things, but we are always in constant contact over email or phone.”
Economic Development importance
EDO McCormac says economic development has helped Moosomin grow immensely just in the past six years.
“I definitely think it is important. Even just thinking back to 2019 before Moosomin Economic Development was a thing, I think Moosomin has grown tremendously since then with the businesses, the people, and the housing that we have seen, and I definitely think a big part of it is the Economic Development Organization recruiting people and finding businesses. Some stuff would have happened organically on its own, but I think the major push was from economic development and I think it is very important in the future to continue that because we don’t want to see the town die.”
Gateway Economic Development was officially formed in the spring of this year.
“We are still fairly new into this combination,” McCormac said. “I think it was January that we started talking about it, and it wasn’t until March or April when we actually combined so it is fairly new. I think we want to try this year and see how it goes and see if they still want to be onboard, but I think it is definitely something we can think about in the future to align our incentives because in Moosomin we have the $30,000 housing incentive, but in Rocanville they don’t have that, but they do have half-priced lots so there are different ways to incentivize building, but I think it would be a good thing to talk about in the future, to align those incentives.”
Planning future goals
McCormac explains Gateway Economic Development’s next steps to strategically planning its goals for the two communities.
“I think it will be a huge help working together as Gateway. Right now we are working with a company out of Regina to do a regional economic development long-term plan that has what we want to accomplish and the set goals and milestones we have to hit in order to accomplish that and I think that joining together will really help us narrow our focus, figure out exactly what we want to achieve, and then achieve that. So, I think we are very focused on what the future is going to look like and it is very bright.”
EDO McCormac says she really enjoys her job and helping build the future of the community.
“I think it is a really cool job to have. I really enjoy it. It is not something I ever considered when I was going to business school—I didn’t even know what economic development was when they originally approached me to do it, but I think it is something you could do for years, your whole career, and always be doing something different. You never know what you are going to be working on.”
McCormac hopes to see both communities flourish and grow from greater opportunities in the near future.
“I think that I see Moosomin and Rocanville growing and thriving, and forming those partnerships—potentially for Gateway Economic Development, there could potentially be an even larger area than just Moosomin and Rocanville including some other towns and some more economic development staff. I also think it will be just a thriving business community, good schools, good health care, and a place where people want to live.
“I am very glad Rocanville wanted to join. It has been very fun. I don’t know Rocanville very well, but it has been really fun to get to know the town. I have gotten to meet quite a few business owners. Andrea and Stan gave me a little tour around town to look at lots. It has been fun in that way because Moosomin was easy for me growing up here. I was born and raised in Moosomin.
Rocanville is a little different because I don’t know it as well so it is interesting to see how they work, the incentives they have, and their process, and the Town of Rocanville overall. It is a very beautiful town.”
Career Fair this fall
Gateway Economic Development will be hosting a Career Fair for high school students and business owners around the area in Rocanville this October.
“I guess another big one we are doing together—it will be in Rocanville this first year—we are holding a Career Fair in October. We have been inviting all of the businesses and starting to let them know it is coming up. We have told all the schools as well. Hopefully as long as this one goes over well we will hold them yearly and switch back and forth between the towns.
“I just think some employers in the region are having a tough time recruiting people and we thought maybe just get them all in one room and especially bringing in the high schools so those kids can see what their options are and what they would need to take in university if they wanted to come back and work here.”
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