Opinion: Leeway from Lloyd: Lloyd becomes magnetic

Lloydminster is poised for a string of economic booms starting with the maintenance turnaround of the Cenovus Upgrader on May 15.

This is a seven-week turnaround that will have around 4,000 contractors in town spending money on hotels, motels, room and house rentals, restaurants etc.

It will also mean more traffic in town, but honk and wave, since these out-of-town workers will drop a lot of coin in the city while increasing the efficiency of the Upgrader.

There are also a lot of construction projects taking place in the city to keep the economic boost going throughout the rest of the year with the big ticket project being the Cenovus Energy Hub arena.

Should the proposed Costco warehouse project go ahead, there could be a lot more crews in the city for months on end.

Hundreds of people will also pour into Lloyd for the upcoming Ribfest funder for Border City Connects transportation services from June 14-16 at the Lloyd Ex.

The 16th annual Just Kruzin Show ‘n Shine car show will also draw in loads of vehicle enthusiasts to the Servus Sports Centre on June 16. Good luck trying to find a parking spot for that event. There will also be a ton of local and national visitors and music fans in Lloydminster for the upcoming Saskatchewan Country Music Association Awards at Vic Juba Community Theatre on June 20-22.

As the host city of the Saskatchewan Summer Games from July 21-27 more than 2,000 athletes, coaches etc will be in Lloyd to fill up hotels and motels.

In September Lloydminster will also host the 2024 oil show at Lloyd Ex that will also draw a lot of national and international visitors to the city. It seems there are recreational and cultural events taking place just about every weekend in Lloydminster in 2024, which bodes well for the local economy.

The downside of progress however is endless weeks of road and sewer construction by the city. Potholes are good for the economy?

Geoff Lee Staff Writer