People are investing in southwest Saskatchewan.

Ethanol production. Dinosaur discovery. Machinery manufacturing. Rail tours. Commercial feedlot. Windpower interpretive centre. These are a few of the ventures happening - or about to happen - in southwest Saskatchewan, thanks to huge efforts and investment from local residents.

Like all areas which rely on agriculture to a large degree, southwest Saskatchewan has been hit hard by BSE, drought, and low commodity prices. And like all rural areas, the region sees many consumers heading to larger centres, like Medicine Hat, to do their shopping.

But southwest Saskatchewan is fighting back.

"About six years ago, we passed a motion that we were opting out of the decline of rural Saskatchewan," says Skip Wilton, alderman for the town of Shaunavon. "We're leaving the doom and gloom to other people."

Wilton, who chairs economic development for the town, says that since the motion was passed "we have worked totally toward that end" and "we have noticed an increase in population."

Perhaps the brightest light on Shaunavon's horizon is the development of a large ethanol plant. The venture, which has been years in the planning, is about to come to fruition.

Cypress Agri Energy Inc., a corporation formed by local residents, envisions a capital expenditure of $90 million resulting in a plant employing about 35 people directly and another 40 indirectly.

The plant will consume about 10 million bushels of CPS wheat to produce 150 million litres of ethanol each year. In addition, the plant will produce an estimated 100,000 tonnes of dried distillers grain, a by-product used as a high protein feed in the livestock industry.

"It will be the largest wheat-based ethanol plant in the world with it's constructed," comments Wilton.

Although the government recently turned down a proposal to fund one quarter of the project, Wilton remains optimistic the venture will go ahead.

"We're in negotiations with Canadian banks and financial people south of the border," says Wilton, adding it looks very promising. He says construction on the project could begin as early as the fall of this year.

Other success stories in the areas's ag sector include Honeybee Manufacturing, a home-grown venture which manufactures self-propelled swathers and specialized combine heads for markets worldwide. Based in Frontier, Honeybee has over 100,000 square feet of production and warehousing space and employs about 125 people.

Another ag-venture in the works is a 25,000 head feedlot to be built in three stages in the Shaunavon area. BSE has complicated the picture, but organizers are forging ahead and plan to be in operation by October of 2004.

While agriculture is still the areas's number one industry, oil and gas continues to pump money into the area's economy.

"We're seeing continued growth in the oil and gas sector," says Maxine Manske, economic development officer for Cypress Hills REDA. "It's expanding all the time."

A highlight at the T-Rex Discovery Centre in Eastend, this awe-inspiring T. rex head was created by world- renowned dinosaur sculptor Brian Cooley of Calgary. His incredibly detailed and life-like work has been commissioned by the likes of National Geographic and Disney, as well as museums and science centres around the world.

Photo by Mark Casswell Courtesy of T. Rex Discovery Centre

She says that municipalities like Gull Lake have implemented initiatives to attract further investment and expansion in the sector.

Tourism is the area's third-ranked industry and here, too, good news abounds.

The T-Rex Discovery Centre near Eastend opened in May of 2000 after the discovery of "Scotty the T-Rex", one of only 20 T-Rex skeletons in the world.

An exciting new project is in the works at Gull Lake. Construction on the proposed Wind Power Interpretive Centre is not under way yet, but it has been a vision for a couple of years, according to Manske. She says the wind power centre will be a great rest stop as well as a first-class promotion for the region.

Wilton says Shaunavon plans to put in an RV park near a spur on the Western rail line and to eventually run rail tours east and west of the town.

"There is some fantastic scenery along this rail line," says Wilton, adding it's not without reason that Eastend is known as the "Valley of the Hidden Secrets.:"

"Dunes, dinosaurs and more" is how southwest Saskatchewan pitches itself to visitors. Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Lake Diefenbaker, the Great Sand Hills, Fort Walsh National Park are just a few of the many sights to see.

An abundance of deer, fowl and other wildlife attract hunters from near and far. With a golf course in almost every town, golfing is popular as well, attracting large number of out-of-province visitors.

As Maple Creek mayor Anne Weisgerber points out, "The residents of this area pay much less in fees to use these facilities than comparable ones in Medicine Hat."

Hockey is another sport that has put Saskatchewan on the map. Shaunavon recently hosted CBC's fifth annual Hockey Day in Canada. The smallest town ever to host the event, Shaunavon is the hometown of women's hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser as well as Ottawa Senators forward Shaun Van Allen and Calgary Flames defenceman Rhett Warrener.

Wilton describes Hockey Day in Canada as a "phenomenal success" saying the town's population doubled in one weekend. In addition, the high-profile event helped raise money for the town's proposed new $4 million skating and curling rink complex.

All in all, Wilton says it is advantages like raw materials, good labour, good weather and willingness to invest that are helping the area thrive.

"There are nothing but positive things in this corner of the province," he concludes.