With a cold start to the 2020 New Year here in Manitoba, the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) is excited to share some hot topic issues and exciting new changes to warm up the weather. In 2019, we said goodbye to Joe Masi, as he enjoys his retirement, and hello to Denys Volkov, new Executive Director of the AMM as of January 1, 2020. As we close the door on a year of elections and campaign promises, AMM’s ‘Partners in Growth’ campaign continues to be our guidepost. We need to work together to keep Manitoba growing and that is why our key theme for this issue introduces our readers to Minister of Economic Development and Training Department, Ralph Eichler as well as, an informative Special Report on Economic Development as a whole. Additionally, we explore the new Economic Growth Action Plan in more depth, the first of its kind Protein Strategy, a chemical-free way to comply with wastewater regulations, among other economic development articles.