Kenora.

• Position: COMMUNITIES OF OPPORTUNITY

Many cottagers and retirees annually flock to Kenora to take advantage of the natural beauty of Lake of the Woods.

Now community leaders want people to consider making the place not just a permanent home, but a place to bring investment dollars too.

"Definitely we need more business and people to come live here," said Jennifer I Findlay, economic development officer; with the Lake of the Woods Business Incentive Corp.

Located a two-hour drive east of Winnipeg, the northwestern city of 15,000 becomes a festival town and a vacation spot every summer for thousands of Manitobans.

The collapse of the forestry industry in the early to mid 2000s resulted in a net loss of people and an industrial tax base.

One of the casualties was the former Abitibi Consolidated mill site, which is being repurposed for light manufacturing.

A Manitoba numbered company is spearheading the redevelopment of a package of properties with a concept of light industrial space and subdivisions I of affordably-priced homes on the Winnipeg River, something Kenora is sorely lacking.

The city hopped aboard with a Community Improvement Plan for the mill site with a slew of tax incentives for businesses to relocate there.

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A modular home builder has set up shop on the 82-acre site, and the city would like to add other value-added man ufacturers.

Tourism has historically...