News

What’s news in the North this month? Gold panning in Barkerville, First Nations career training and a unique culinary program on Haida Gwaii are just some of our top stories from communities across northern B.C. in this month’s edition of Building a Stronger North – in print and online! May marks the launch of the digital edition of our Building a Stronger North newsletter, which allows us to share more stories more often about the people and places across northern …

Supply chain financing program provides just in time cash for local businesses looking to expand alongside major industrial projects February 20, 2013 Prince George, B.C. – Amid a wave of major new projects proposed across central and northern B.C., Northern Development Initiative Trust has teamed up with National Bank of Canada to provide a new source of financing that will help small and medium-sized businesses in the region grow alongside the economy and create new jobs. In partnership with the …

A web portal designed to attract global investment to northwest B.C. won major accolades at the annual Northern B.C. Business and Technology awards gala in Prince George January 9.

Invest in Northwest BC, a regional investment website developed in partnership with communities throughout northwest B.C., earned two nominations at the event and took home the ‘Technology Provider of the Year’ award. The site was also nominated in the ‘Technology and Industry Newsmaker of the Year’ award category. The website, which Northern Development Initiative Trust spearheaded on behalf of northwest communities, was launched last spring to wide acclaim from the business community throughout the province. Since then, it has promoted investment opportunities in municipalities such as Prince Rupert, Terrace, Kitimat, Queen Charlotte and others, and helped connect potential investors with economic development officers throughout the region.

Winter has arrived in the north but that doesn’t mean business is slowing down.

The rate of activity in rural B.C. couldn’t be more evident than along the stretch of highway that extends from Terrace to Iskut, where construction workers, contractors and major industry are hard at work building the Northwest Transmission Line. As detailed in this month’s issue of Building a Stronger North, the $561 million project is having major economic impacts on northwest B.C.

As you’ve no doubt heard by now, folks from Haida Gwaii to Dawson Creek are talking about the boom in the natural gas sector in northeast B.C. that has created thousands of jobs and pumped millions of dollars into provincial revenue streams that support healthcare and education services, among other things.

But what’s becoming more and more apparent, meantime, is how closely tied the long-term viability of the natural gas industry is to the slew of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals proposed along the northwest coast. In fact, it’s not a stretch to say that the traditionally disparate economies of northwest and northeast regions of this province are more closely tied than ever before – working together to help this industry thrive for the long term.

That’s why we’ve decided to explore how these two regions are creating new political ties to achieve common goals in the latest edition of Building a Stronger North.