{"id":101773,"date":"2026-01-30T15:41:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T20:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=101773"},"modified":"2026-01-30T15:41:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T20:41:54","slug":"portage-leaders-awarded-for-economic-growth-in-western-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/portage-leaders-awarded-for-economic-growth-in-western-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"Portage leaders awarded for economic growth in Western Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Renee Lilley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Portage Graphic Leader Two regional leaders are being celebrated for their roles in driving growth across Western Canada after receiving prestigious industry honours at a recent regional summit. Eve O\u2019Leary, director of economic development for Portage Regional Economic Development Inc. (PRED), and Dennis Meeches of Long Plain First Nation were both named recipients of the West 20 (W20) award. The awards were presented during the Western Canadian Economic Forum held in Winnipeg. The W20 recognizes 20 impactful business, government, community, and Indigenous leaders from across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Recipients are typically chosen based on having more than a decade of experience, a clear history of career progression, and a commitment to building community through investment attraction and entrepreneurship. O\u2019Leary, who&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F01%2F30%2Fportage-leaders-awarded-for-economic-growth-in-western-canada%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Renee Lilley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Portage Graphic Leader Two regional leaders are being celebrated for their roles in driving growth across Western Canada after receiving prestigious industry honours at a recent regional summit. Eve O\u2019Leary, director of economic development for Portage Regional Economic Development Inc. (PRED), and Dennis Meeches of Long Plain First Nation were both named recipients of the West 20 (W20) award. The awards were presented during the Western Canadian Economic Forum held in Winnipeg. The W20 recognizes 20 impactful business, government, community, and Indigenous leaders from across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Recipients are typically chosen based on having more than a decade of experience, a clear history of career progression, and a commitment to building community through investment attraction and entrepreneurship. O\u2019Leary, who... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F01%2F30%2Fportage-leaders-awarded-for-economic-growth-in-western-canada%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Portage leaders awarded for economic growth in Western Canada - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/portage-leaders-awarded-for-economic-growth-in-western-canada\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Portage leaders awarded for economic growth in Western Canada - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Renee Lilley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Portage Graphic Leader Two regional leaders are being celebrated for their roles in driving growth across Western Canada after receiving prestigious industry honours at a recent regional summit. Eve O\u2019Leary, director of economic development for Portage Regional Economic Development Inc. (PRED), and Dennis Meeches of Long Plain First Nation were both named recipients of the West 20 (W20) award. The awards were presented during the Western Canadian Economic Forum held in Winnipeg. The W20 recognizes 20 impactful business, government, community, and Indigenous leaders from across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Recipients are typically chosen based on having more than a decade of experience, a clear history of career progression, and a commitment to building community through investment attraction and entrepreneurship. O\u2019Leary, who\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/portage-leaders-awarded-for-economic-growth-in-western-canada\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-30T20:41:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/30\\\/portage-leaders-awarded-for-economic-growth-in-western-canada\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/30\\\/portage-leaders-awarded-for-economic-growth-in-western-canada\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Portage leaders awarded for economic growth in Western Canada\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-30T20:41:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/30\\\/portage-leaders-awarded-for-economic-growth-in-western-canada\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":369,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/30\\\/portage-leaders-awarded-for-economic-growth-in-western-canada\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/30\\\/portage-leaders-awarded-for-economic-growth-in-western-canada\\\/\",\"name\":\"Portage leaders awarded for economic growth in Western Canada - 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