It's been just over a week since the announcement a $400,000,000 pea protein extraction facility is coming to the RM of Portage la Prairie.

It was a joint effort between the RM and City of Portage.

Mayor Irvine Ferris says without the tax sharing agreement between them, the deal wouldn't have happened. He credits former Reeve Jim Knight, former Mayor Ian MacKenzie, and former CEOs Rick Locke and Dale Lyle for initiating the agreement.

"Really, Rick and Dale brought the mayor and reeve together," he says, "Up until that point, the relationship between the City and RM was probably best described as adversarial, competitive. So among other things, they came to a tax sharing agreement. And what this would mean is the City and RM would work together to attract and bring industry into our region."

Ferris stresses wherever a new enterprise locates, both municipalities benefit. "If an industry locates within our city, the City of Portage la Prairie will get 60% of that tax revenue, the RM will share in 40% of it, and the ratio is reversed if it's located in the RM."

Ferris feels it's positive for both municipalities. "There's a lot of incentive for our two groups to work together, and it certainly works better for businesses, where they have their choice of any location within the whole region."

Ferris the region owes a lot to the people who created the agreement a number of years ago.