Doepker leads the way to rural revitalization. (Back page).

Sometimes its just a single event that heralds a sea of change but it takes years before the event or its impact come into focus.

Historians will look back at this period in Saskatchewan's life and point out those single events that turned out to be bellwether milestones and this year's Business of the Year will stand among them.

Doepker Industries - Business of the Year for both Saskatchewan Business and the Saskatchewan Chamber's ABEX Awards - made a landmark decision this year that will be seen as the turning point that reversed Saskatchewan's lagging fortunes.

Decades of decline, largely triggered by improved agricultural technology that enabled individual farmers to manage larger and larger land tracts, have left a legacy of abandoned or forgotten communities. Rural depopulation is not a story any more, it's a characteristic of our agrarian province. As smaller farmers moved out in favor of larger ones, they and their families sought alternate employment in urban centres, often next door. Few, very few, small communities had the resilience to deflect this trend. But those that did, more often than not, are located in Saskatchewan's 'Ruhr Valley' in a corridor from Wynyard through Humboldt, Englefeld and Annaheim.

The characteristic each of these communities, whether St. Brieux or Annaheim? Manufacturing. And Doepker Industries, like Schulte, Bourgault and others were examples.

These firms delivered off-farm employment, economic opportunity for young people otherwise headed to Alberta, wealth creation and money imported from out-of-region buyers. Basically, they succeeded and kept their communities alive as a result.

This kind of success never goes unnoticed. Whether it was American economic development officers hungry to lure these manufacturers south or trade unions desperately looking for new members in a market characterized by a dwindling and aging work force, these companies are targets. Doepker Industries became the bulls-eye on this target.

Timing played in the company's favor. It had outgrown its Annaheim plant and needed more space. The lease on Moose Jaw was coming up for renewal, Annaheim was too small and a decision on the firm's long-term future was required. Furthermore, the government was not interested in upgrading the road to the community.

Then came the highly charged and well-publicized union drive. It divided a community, pitted family member against family member and, perhaps most of all, it hurt the firm's principals who saw it as an attack against them, their management style and the economic life they breathed into the community. They didn't have to stay in Annaheim or Moose Jaw. In fact, they had plenty of options.

The American suitors were offering buckets of money - all they had to do was pull up stakes. As a temporary facility, the Moose Jaw plant could have been moved in a weekend - loosen a few bolts and install them in a plant south of the line and, voila, back in business in a week.

The family decided against the easy, logical route of taking the American offers of a free plant or a year's payroll. Instead, they filled their capacity requirements by buying an abandoned but modern plant in Humboldt, made Moose Jaw a permanent facility and, unlike most companies in this province, cut a cheque to pay for road improvements to Annaheim.

The die was cast. Doepker's decided to stay and fight for a better Saskatchewan, rather than build their future elsewhere.

Their decision some day will be seen as the turning point that reversed the drain in rural Saskatchewan. This is the firm and the family that has drawn a line in the sand, has made a stand. Their courage and belief in a better future for this province is a beacon for all of us to follow.

A sound choice as Business of the Year? Absolutely.

Paul Martin is heard daily on CJME and 650 NTR as well as the radio stations of the Golden West Broadcasting network in Saskatchewan.