Manitoba Blue Cross has opened a service centre in Winkler.

The space at 990L 15th St., Unit 3, provides a venue where members can get face-to-face assistance with claims, ask questions about coverage and receive guidance from a local customer service team, it said in a release Thursday.

“For many Manitobans, accessing support can mean travelling long distances or navigating services on their own,” said Benjamin Graham, president and CEO. “We’re working to change that.”

The health benefits provider was established in 1974. It now has three service hubs, including its original Winnipeg location and a centre in Thompson that opened in fall 2025.

Winnipeg’s first chief construction officer called for more communication between government and industry, discussed the public inquiry into the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters project and reflected on his first year in the new role during an event with local business leaders on Wednesday.

During a presentation held by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, Tom Sparrow said his role — the first of its kind in the city and Canada — had begun in a “period of increasing infrastructure complexity and capital demand” in the Manitoba capital.

“The numbers are staggering. I would say even (with) today’s numbers, we’re looking at anywhere from $10- to $15-billion worth of work that we need to do over the next eight to 10 years,” he said.

“Which is obviously quite significant, and we’ll be relying a lot on industry to assist us in that area.”

A new organization dedicated to supporting Manitoba startups is celebrating its new Winnipeg headquarters and the small businesses already working in it.

Manitoba Innovates has 85 startups occupying its office spaces at 423 Main St. in different capacities — everyone from “a single entrepreneur with a slide deck and a vision to companies of 80 or 90 employees,” said Paul Card, the group’s chief executive officer.

“We’re really here to build a community around growth, job creation and investment. And those aren’t always easy to do, but it’s easier to do on average, through a large community,” Card told the Free Press at Thursday’s launch event.

“There will be some wins and there’ll be some losses, but en masse, what we’re hoping to do is make all those things happen.”