Taking Stock: North Coast Business Scene -- January 2016

As is normally the case at the start of a year, the business scene on the North Coast remained fairly uneventful for the first month of 2016.

There was little in the way of new openings, closings or re-locations through January.

Though there was much in the way of planning and discussion on matters business related, with even those past dreams of Big Box stores arriving making for a bit of conversation at City Council during the last week of the month.

As well, as January came to an end, the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce released the nominees for their annual Business Awards.

January

The month opened with a look at the real estate listings and a long time favourite destination for many on the North Coast placed in the For Sale Category.

Community Futures of the Pacific Northwest is giving would be entrepreneurs a few ideas, with the launch of an eye catching advertising campaign around the city's downtown area.

Thrive North, also opened January up with some projects for those with a small business idea, hosting a Planning session earlier this month and introducing the Second Annual Business Challenge for the Northwest.

The Prince Rupert Hotel received some new signage to signal the shift to the Prestige Hotels chain, moving forward a process which started back in July  of last year.

The Financial Sector of the Northwest will soon have a new entrant, with the North Peace Savings and Credit Union announcing plans to start offering their services out Terrace.

The Small Business community will be watching Prince Rupert City Council with interest in February, when Councillor Blair Mirau returns to seek Council's approval on the Terms of Reference for a proposed Small Business Advisory Committee.

A familiar topic around Prince Rupert returned to City Council this week, as Council members explored some of their thoughts on the theme of Big Box Retail development in the community last Monday evening. And while there doesn't at the moment appear to be any large scale retailers looking to locate in the city, Council did offer up a very short review as to just how they would like to see that form of development evolve in the community, should applications arrive one day.

The month wrapped up with the release of the nominations for the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce Business Awards, a large number of nominees in fifteen categories will be available for public voting starting February 1st.  The Awards Gala takes place February 27th at the Lester Centre.

You will be able to find the archive for Taking Stock as a part of our larger page dedicated to the commercial sector of the North Coast found here.

We imagine we probably have missed a few here or there, so if you know of a business having opened, or seen the Going out of business sign appear somewhere in the area, drop us a line at our email account of northcoastreviewpr@yahoo.ca

Or send us a short message through our twitter feed of @CharlesHays