Posted Aug 25, 2010, 11:33 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Regina/Toronto
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I know we already know, but this wasn't posted so here you go! 
Enjoy!
Mosaic Company to bring 120 jobs to Regina
By JOE COUTURE, Leader-Post August 20, 2010
Mosaic president and CEO Jim Prokopanko (left to right), Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, The Hill Companies president and CEO Paul Hill and City of Regina planning commission chairman Coun. Michael Fougere stand in front of a rendering of Hill Centre Tower III on Thursday. Mosaic will be the tower's lead tenant, establishing the new headquarters of its potash operations in Regina, which will create 120 jobs.
Photograph by: Joe Couture, Leader-Post
This rendering of the proposed Hill Centre Tower III was released on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010, at a ceremonial sod breaking event for the new building. The Mosaic Company will be the lead tenant in the tower, establishing the new headquarters of its potash operations in Regina. The move is expected to create 120 jobs in the city. The tower will be the first "Class A" office space built in Regina in more than two decades. The building construction represents an investment of more than $100 million.
[SIZE="2.5"]REGINA — The Mosaic Company announced Thursday that, as the lead tenant in the proposed third Hill Centre Tower, it will establish the new headquarters for its potash operations in Regina, a move that will create 120 new jobs in the city.
At a ceremonial sod turning for the new tower, which is to be built at the northwest corner of Hamilton Street and 12th Avenue, Premier Brad Wall told reporters that Mosaic’s move shows his government’s tax incentives have been successful.
“We implemented some tax changes with respect to the potash royalty system that provided incentive for head-office presence,” Wall said, referring to hundreds of thousands of dollars in incentives effective this year for potash corporate executive jobs moved to and maintained in Saskatchewan.
The premier also thanked Mosaic and Harvard Developments, which is building the $100-million, 20-storey tower that Wall described as “an impressive addition to the skyline of Regina.” He noted both companies have made contributions as corporate citizens.
Mosaic president and CEO Jim Prokopanko said the new jobs will be created due to expansions of the company’s potash operations in Saskatchewan at Esterhazy, Colonsay and Belle Plaine, where potash head-office jobs used to be located.
The move from Belle Plaine to the heart of downtown is to attract top employees, particularly young people starting out in their careers, Prokopanko said, noting employees are excited about working in an urban, downtown environment. Until the building is ready for occupancy — which is expected late in 2012 or in 2013 — Mosaic will operate out of temporary accommodations downtown, he said.
A growing world population means potash and other fertilizers will be in increasing demand, Prokopanko said, noting that outlook is behind Mosaic’s optimism about growth in the industry.
“There’s going to be greater demand for food,” he said. “That greater demand for food is going to have to come from a limited land base and that has to come with more fertilizer use. Saskatchewan is right at the centre of that (as) one of the world’s largest producers of potash.”
Coun. Michael Fougere, chairman of the City of Regina’s planning commission, said council approval still is needed for the third Hill Centre Tower. Council will consider the proposal on Monday night, but Fougere said he is “certain it’ll go through no problem.”
“This is the first time in 20 years we’ve seen a ‘Class A’ office tower built in the city,” he said. “It’s shows the support and confidence of the business sector here. This is fantastic news for the city.”
He noted the development isn’t the first one about which a news conference was held prior to final city council approval, noting a similar situation occurred with the Grasslands retail development in the southwest corner of the city.
Paul Hill, president and CEO of The Hill Companies, which includes Harvard, said the third tower represents the “long-term vision” for Regina’s downtown that his company, governments and other organizations have.
“You have to be patient,” he said about his family’s shaping of the city’s skyline. “We’ve been here for over 100 years and we know that we’re not answering to quarterly reports. It might be quarter-century reports is more like it.”
He noted his grandfather first built on the site many decades ago and it has been decades since the first two Hill Centre towers were built. Hill also commented on the possibility of a fourth tower going up to the west of the existing ones.
“I hope it won’t take another 20 years to see the fourth tower,” he said. “But we’ll see how that goes. It’s driven by demand and it’s driven by commitments like the ones that Mosaic made with this tower. The economy, as you know, is more vibrant than in other parts of the country. We’ve got to attract those head offices and decision makers … and we’re starting to do that.”
Leon Brin of the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District said moves like Mosaic’s help broaden the interest in Regina beyond the bounds of the city itself as organizations like his work to promote the city.
“We do know that there are other developments under consideration that we would expect to see probably within the next 12 months — one of them, at least,” he said. “We’re very excited. We just need to continue some momentum here.”
jcouture@leaderpost.canwest.com
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Read more: http://www.leaderpost.com/business/M...#ixzz0xfBP7SK1[/SIZE]
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