The upcoming year is looking better and better for Moose Jaws local economy.

Canada's leader in renewable energy systems – Sycamore Energy Incorporated – has announced that they will be building its Saskatchewan headquarters in the friendly city.

CEO and Co-Founder Justin Phillips

"Our company is a renewable energy firm, we're one of Canada's largest solar EPC company - Engineering Procurement Construction Firm. Our main office is in Winnipeg and we've decided to bring our Saskatchewan head office to Moose Jaw. The majority of our client base is rural based farmers and we wanted to be in the heart of the area where our customer base is."

Phillips says although the announcement was only made Friday, work has already started.

"We've already set up in Moose Jaw, we have our director of sales rooted down. We've rented some space for him to live in and he will be spending some time over the next several months getting things started with ourselves coming in on a regular basis. We are looking for a permanent location, likely to be open May 1 - May to June is our goal."

Sycamore Energy predicts the local economy will see a benefit of more than $1 million dollars of direct and indirect investment over the first year.

"We expect over the next 18-24 months that we will employ close to 18 or 24 people. Those jobs will include administration, sales, engineering, electricians and skilled laboured positions for installation of solar PV systems in southern Saskatchewan."

The province of Saskatchewan and SaskPower announced a new solar rebate program last year, which includes a rebate for equipment and installation costs for solar power. They will also allow customers to generate their own power through renewable energy sources, and send any extra to SaskPower, which can be withdrawn as needed.