The Teulon Industrial Study, applying effective economic development practice in rural Canada

Abstract

The purpose of the Teulon Industrial Study was to assess the feasibility of the development of an industrial park in the rural Canadian community o Teulon, Manitoba. The project, initiated through a partnership between the municipality, the local economic development committee, and the region's federally-funded Community Futures Development Corporation, was based upon local development priorities established through a community strategic planning process. The project reflects the community's desire to address a number of persistent issues including static population growth, youth unemployment and out-migration, and the lack of business diversification. These persistent issues reveal that in many instances rural Canadian economic systems are failing. This is in part a result of inherent system limitations, system fragmentation due to economic and technological change, and a weak and fragmented government policy regarding rural development. The failure of rural systems is marked by the decline of small ruralcommunities whose long-term survival and sustainability will require government re-investment in rural development and aggressive local economic development initiatives. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)