Niverville embraces growth and change

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/05/2021 (1473 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The face of Niverville is changing slowly and surely. Neighbourhoods sprouting up on the edges of the town’s centre reflect less that of a rural town and more of suburban developments found in Winnipeg just 38 kilometers due north. For sale signs and leasing opportunities are in abundance, with modernized buildings overtaking the familiar, worn facets in the area. Construction crews and excavators litter the streets and open fields like flocks of geese coming home for the summer months.

Behind the recent retrofitting of Niverville is a familiar name, some even referring to him as the town’s biggest cheerleader.

Raymond Dowse, a community developer and licensed insurance broker hailing from the area, has been forging ahead with the construction of Drovers Run on the west side of town where both popular businesses – Anytime Fitness, Dairy Queen, Tim Hortons – and local establishments – Negash Coffee – have found a home.

Dowse, a life-long resident of Niverville, took it upon himself to assist in changing the face of the growing community by way of bringing entrepreneurs in and introducing them to what he calls one of Manitoba’s best-kept secrets.

“It is nice to have Winnipeg close by, but when you have enough amenities in your backyard you don’t need to go there that often,” he said. Dowse hopes to turn Niverville into a destination point, not a passby on the way to one of two big cities flanking the area, Steinbach and Winnipeg.

However, despite its humble status compared to neighbouring centres, Niverville has historically been a point of destination. The first Mennonite immigrants from Russia arrived by boat to the area in 1874 and settled on the edge of what was known then as the East Reserve, plots of land set aside for the Christian Anabaptists when they arrived to the prairies, now considered the RM of Hanover.

Around the same time, Joseph Whitehead was busy constructing the Pembina branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway which would not only run through the area, but also quickly establish it as a port of trade in the fledgling province. This led to the first grain elevator to be built in western Canada in the growing settlement five years later.

Over a century’s time the settlement grew from a point of relief for immigrants, to a village, and finally incorporated as a town in 1993. Once known for trades in hatcheries, grain elevators and feed mills, Niverville has grown past that to provide commercial and business services, having out-of-towners making the trip to stores specific to town such as Wiens Furniture, a family-run shop.

Dylan Wiens, operating manager of the local furniture and appliance store, believes it’s the residents of Niverville that make the town what it is.

Wiens has operated in the community since 1939 when Jake Wiens hawked appliances in a humble shop. Since then, the business has been passed down three generations into Dylan’s lap.

At 32-years-old, he says he chooses to stay in Niverville as it’s a distinct area in that it’s become a destination for young families.

“It’s kind of cool the way that people are investing into the community because it’s a lot of local people that are investing in the community, not just what some people would call outsiders,” he said.

The Canada Census is expected to record over 6,000 residents in town this year. Wiens said with the influx of newcomers into the community he expects both his and other businesses to pivot to accommodate their needs.

“Everyone is in it to make the town a bigger, better place,” he said of the shift happening in town.

“You can’t expect change not to happen.”

With that change comes the need for accommodations fit for a growing town. Travelers looking to lay their head at night do not currently have an option.

Trevor Rempel, a partner in Steel Creek Developers, the company behind the soon-to-be hotel which will find its own home at the end of Drovers Run, seeks to create that amenity by way of accommodation fit for everyone.

“One of the things we wanted to do is to try and create our property as a destination and not just a place where people spend the night,” he said of the newest location for his chain of rural lodges, Blue Crescent Hotels. Rempel hopes to break ground on the site of the addition in the coming months.

The 70-room hotel touts amenities fit for families, travelers and business people alike. Rempel said part of the goal for the hotel is to attract clientele to the area instead of choosing to drive a bit further and stay in a bigger city with the hope it will bring more sporting tournaments, conferences and events to town. Niverville is set to host the 2022 Manitoba Winter Games in March of next year.

“There’s growth happening here and we want to take advantage of it,” Rempel said.

In the 2016 Census Niverville was noted as one of the fastest growing communities in Manitoba with a 43 percent increase in population since 2011. The Niverville Chamber of Commerce has 112 active members, 18 registering in the last two years.

The chamber credits the uptick in businesses to the town’s Business Incentive Grant, a motion made by council in 2016 to help attract business to the area. Upon registering for the initiative, corporations are handed a portion of their taxes back to them and slowly docks their returns over five years until the business is profitable and paying their full share on an annual basis. To date, five corporations have benefited from the BIG resulting in the expansion of three existing businesses and the creation of eight new businesses.

Mayor Myron Dyck said it was the BIG incentive as part of the town’s strategic plan to grow businesses after an uneven residential to business split was found in 2010.

“If Niverville was going to be financially sustainable, we had to look and see what we could do to build our business sector,” Dyck said.

This resulted in interest from out-of-town businesses seeking tenancies, sparking growth within the community and a population increase as a result.

Some accuse the mayor of turning Niverville into a city, but he says his focus is turning it into a destination, which in turn helps the local economy by bringing in out-of-towners to spend their cash.

“In life, in business, in communities in any way, there is no such thing as staying there, there is only two movements: going backwards or going forwards.”

For Dowse, he plans to continue the forward trajectory with the business boom happening in Niverville, with another development on Drovers Run to be executed in the near future and the incoming car wash and cannabis shop set to open in late summer.

“The goal isn’t to drive out any of the existing long-standing businesses, it’s to create an environment where Niverville is seen and deemed a trade center.”

Though it seems to be speeding towards development as young parents are increasingly choosing to raise their families in small, friendly towns, Niverville remains just that: friendly. The summer months will still find young children frolicking down the pavement in new and old parts of town and the gas station attendants will offer a smile with a full tank of fuel, because its residents still choose to live by the inscription on the town sign that welcomes those coming in from the highway: it’s where you belong.