Prince Rupert and other Northwest communities hire consultant to deliver on resident workforce plans

The plan to attract workers for the region from four Northwest communities continues to move forward, with Prince Rupert and its three partners in the Skeena Valley now having hired a consultant to help deliver a planning project to market the region as an attractive location for working professionals and potential residents to move to.

We outlined the progress for the project in December, which saw the City of Prince Rupert, City of Terrace, District of Kitimat and Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine decide to work together to find ways to bring workers to the area, with the first step a request for bids for consultancy services for the project.

Yesterday, those plans moved ahead with the announcement that the group has selected Munro-Thompson Communications Inc. to conduct the research towards a research based approach to marketing the region to future residents.

Paul Venditelli, Manger of Transportation
and Economic Development for the
City of Prince Rupert

Paul Venditelli, the Manager of Transportation and Economic Development for the City of Prince Rupert highlighted the collaborative approach that the four local governments are taking towards their goal and what  they hope to achieve from it.

"Local business walk surveys conducted in Prince Rupert, Terrace and Kitimat suggest that attraction and retention of employees is an issue facing local businesses and industry," ...  "This plan is being developed to help meet these needs, and strengthen our regional economy."

No terms of the contract with Munro-Thompson, or how they may proceed with their work were outlined as part of the Thursday announcement. The timeline for delivery of their research is expected to take a number of months to move from the planning to active engagement process.

Munro Thompson most recently completed a project for the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine and Nisga'a Lisims Government showcasing the Nisga'a and Strewart-Cassiar region of the province.

You can review their work on "A Northern Path" here.

Prince Rupert City Council first explored the workforce engagement project in mid 2017 and voted to move ahead with the joint venture earlier during the spring, some background related to their discussion on the theme, as well their approval for the use of civic funds for the project can be reviewed as part of our notes from their Council sessions of May.

For more items of interest from Prince Rupert City Council see our archive page here.