Sarah Mills: Dismal population numbers should be concerning to politicians
Sarah Mills says national and provincial leaders should take note of the latest population numbers from Statistics Canad...
This past Canadian Western Agribition (CWA) brought in more money than it ever has.
Record-setting profits of $844,606 came in as a result of the November event at Evraz Place. Agribition CEO Marty Seymour said attendance numbers helped that, as 130,200 visitors took in the event over six days.
“That’s the single biggest growth we’ve seen in six years and I think it’s indicative of the programming that we’ve got in place,” said Seymour.
The rodeo, jousting, and the food pavillion are just some of the programming he’s referring to. Seymour said the agriculture industry itself is doing well. For the first time in 40 years, overall livestock sales reached $3.4 million, while purebred beef sales topped $2 million.
“Our show, the economic impact’s growing. We went from $37 million to $56 million in the last three years. That’s six days worth of business. We help this province generate $56 million”
Profits are reinvested into the show, whether that’s through infrastructure or additional programming he added.
This past November’s show marked Seymour’s last as CEO. After five years in the role, he announced that he’ll be stepping down as of May 1 to pursue a job with Farm Credit Canada. The CWA board has already begun the recruitment process to find his replacement, estimated to take between six and eight weeks.
“I think the work Agribition does is noble. We’re helping the industry buy and sell things, we’re telling the agriculture story and we do it in a fun way. Nobody else has had more fun than me,” Seymour said.
