Jan Swanson is the city's new economic development manager. (Submitted photo/City of North Battleford)

By Angela Brown

New hire

City welcomes new economic development manager

Nov 14, 2022 | 4:59 PM

The City of North Battleford will have a new economic development manager in the near future.

The city announced Jan Swanson will be starting in the position beginning Nov. 21.

The city said in a release that following a lengthy selection process, the city hired local community member Swanson as its new economic development manager.

The city noted Swanson has extensive experience working within the public and private sectors across Canada, in particular, as the Premier’s lead on a Business Centre Initiative in Ukraine, and as a developer of a Provincial Business Succession/Transition Program and the Entrepreneurial Development System.

Swanson holds a Bachelor of Administration from the University of Regina and is a certified Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) Master Consultant through the University of Minnesota as well as a number of additional business and economic development certifications.

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The city said Swanson specializes in economic development, business planning and consulting, project management, strategic planning, corporate training, and business operations.

“It’s really good we’ve been able to attract somebody like Jan,” acting city manager Brent Nadon said. “It’s a bonus that he is also a local person because then he has that knowledge and the connection already that allows him to hit the ground running.”

Swanson lives in North Battleford. For the past two years, he has been involved in consulting work, while based locally.

Nadon said it will be ideal to have Swanson working with the city, focused on developing new economic development opportunities.

“We believe it’s critical for economic development. It’s critical for the long-term success for the city and even the region itself,” he said. “We build businesses, we bring families, we bring workers. In the end, we grow. And growth is what keeps us going.”

Nadon said the city’s prior corporate services director, Jennifer Niesink, first started as the director of economic development with the city a number of years ago, before progressing up through the ranks and taking on additional responsibilities.

So there was a need to fill a position to focus solely on economic development again now.

“The biggest issue we had is we didn’t have anybody who was actually dedicated to doing it,” Nadon said. “So when there are trade shows, and when there are opportunities, a lot of things happen behind the scenes. We didn’t have anybody who was out there selling the City of North Battleford, saying this is the place where you can get some of the stuff done, or where you should come and expand, perhaps lower your costs, a place to grow. We just weren’t in the game. So we were losing out on a lot of opportunities.”

He said the whole purpose of hiring the new economic development manager was to attract, retain and expand business in the community.

“We want long-term growth for the city,” Nadon said.

He added that it’s great to see that Swanson is just the right fit for the position.

“Besides having a business degree, he is a certified business retention and expansion master consultant,” Nadon said.

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW