Steinbach has received some esteemed recognition by the national newspaper, the Globe and Mail. In a series of articles last weekend, it called Steinbach a model for Canada as to how to do immigration.

Mayor Chris Goertzen calls it quite an honour. "To be called the model for Canada is really something special," says Goertzen. He adds, "I think we can all be proud of this as residents of Steinbach, as residents of the region really, because we have a good model to go by. It's been a success for the new immigrant families and it's been a success for us who've been here a little bit longer than they have."

Goertzen says a lot of credit has to go to the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce for the work it started about ten years ago. He explains, "The Chamber of Commerce, through the immigrant Settlement Program, has done a phenomenal job in making sure that the transition for immigrants, although not easy, was better and was more successful than it could have been. We really need to say thank-you to the Chamber of Commerce for running that program efficiently and thank-you to the residents for making sure that immigrants are welcome."

Mary Jane Hiebert(above, reading Globe articles) was chamber President when the organization took a lead role in helping immigrants settle here. What's her reaction to the Globe story? She says, "Certainly a lot of pride. The program was basically in its infancy when I was President of the chamber and we saw an opportunity and really embraced it. It was very successful in its growth and obviously still is today."

Hiebert notes there were a couple of key initiatives that made the program work. "Initially I think it was the fact that we could listen to the local employers and assist them in their needs of getting people over here. We developed a board, comprised of some local employers, the education providers, all those things so that we could meet the needs of these people as they arrived, but also recognize that the needs of education and the workforce were also being satisfied."

Hiebert adds, once the ball got rolling, it continued to gain momentum. "I know that people who came here and were happy and satisfied went and told their families who were still in Germany, or wherever, how great it was and so they brought parents over and siblings over and that ball just never ever stopped and that's continuing even today." Hiebert says there's an energy there and it appears immigration to the Steinbach area will remain strong for years to come.