Taking Stock: North Coast Business Scene -- February 2017

February it seems was mostly about policies for the local business community, as our review for the month takes note of a string of meetings that outlined some details on initiatives and observations on the North Coast business and economic items.

From City Council hearings on commercial marijuana operations and the launch of the Small Business Task Force, to the thoughts on economic matters from provincial election candidates, discussion was the current for the month.

Adding to the talking points was a strong note of concern at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon over the theme of the appearance of the downtown area, calling attention to how the city was presenting itself heading into the upcoming tourism season.

Success on the awards front for a local business also made for headlines, while some concerns about local communications also provided for some discussion topics for February.

Some of our observations on the Commercial and economic scene in the region for February can be found below:

February

The month began with the two declared candidates for the Legislature in the May election outlining their views on Prince Rupert's economic status, with both the NDP's Jennifer Rice and Liberal Herb Pond finding very different views on the North Coast situation

The path for potential commercial marijuana outlets received a hearing by the City this month, as Council hosted a Public Hearing related to their plans for a one year prohibition on any introduction of the business to Prince Rupert, with Council waiting for further indication from the Federal government as to its plans moving forward on the issue of legalization of marijuana.

City Council also introduced the lineup for its Business Advisory Task Force, with six local residents named to the group, along with an opening to be filled by the Chamber of Commerce.

CityWest was busy warning customers of yet another email scam in the northwest targeting their customers. 

Telephone woes were also on the mind of City Council this month as Councillor Randhawa brought attention to service issues related to Telus coverage in the city.

The City's Chamber of Commerce luncheon was the venue for a presentation from Scott Farwell of Tourism Prince Rupert, among the themes he explored for the business community included expectations for the year ahead and a call for action to address the growing number of unsightly buildings that are found in the community.

That was a theme we followed up on the blog, providing a pictorial of some of the downtown buildings that are in need of repair or demolition such is the state of their condition.

One of the city's long established hotels went up on the For Sale listings, with Raffles Inn now available for investment if you have the 2 million dollar asking price 

And February ushered in Awards Show season for the business class, with two Prince Rupert businesses in the running for Small Business Awards in Vancouver, with the city's Argosy successfully navigating the twists and turns of the competition to claim an award, recognized as Best Marketer at the Small Business Awards gala. 

February also had the Chamber of Commerce putting the final touches on their own Business Awards Celebrations, with the local gala taking place this past weekend at the Lester Centre.

You can keep up to date on the ebb and flow of the Prince Rupert commercial scene through 2017 from our Taking Stock tracker archive which can be reviewed here.

A full review of the the trends and developments in business for 2017 can be found on our Commercial Sector archive page 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