Celebrations for commercial success were balanced with words of more store closures in the community as we review the pulse of the business sector for the month of March.
The Prince Rupert Chamber of Commerce figured large in the month's activities, hosting the annual Business Awards gala in the first week, followed by the Annual General Meeting and address from President Michelle Bryant-Gravelle towards the end of the month.
Expansion plans for CityWest also generates some significant news through March, with the communication company owned by the City of Prince Rupert receiving funding for some fibre projects around the Northwest.
March also was a month which raised the profile of Ecotrust Canada's Prince Rupert office, with the organization spreading the word of its plans for development of the North Coast Innovation Lab.
Those themes and many others, can be be found as part of our review of the Commercial and economic scene in the region for the last month below:
March
The month was barely underway, when word of another store closing quickly spread through the community with the decision of the ownership to close Little Anchors on Third Avenue West.
It was awards show season for Prince Rupert, as the Chamber of Commerce saluted those local enterprises that were selected by the public for honours for the Business Excellence Awards for 2017-18.
A letter to the comments section of the local newspaper sparked a fair bit of discussion on the state of the city's downtown core and highlighted some of the struggles that the city's commercial class has faced over the last few years.
Expanded Internet service in the Northwest was the theme for Prince Rupert based CityWest which announced plans to extend their fibre backbone into rural areas of the Northwest, featuring two announcements this month that highlights their expanding reach (see here and here). Such has been the pace of announcements related to CityWest, that the company received mention from MLA Jennifer Rice in comments for the Legislature at the start of the month.
The prospect of some form of Fish market for Cow Bay continued to make for a discussion point in the community through the month, with Councillor Barry Cunningham's proposal for the City's Cow Bay Dock to play host to a weekend market turned over to Ecotrust Canada's North Coast Innovation Lab for further study.
Prince Rupert businesses continued to be the target of crime, with March bringing reports of more break and enters and thefts from local commercial locations.
Northern Savings outlined its plans for a pair of Financial Wellness Seminars to take place in April, as the financial services institution brings financial journalist Sean Cooper to Terrace and Prince Rupert.
The list of empty store fronts along Third Avenue West continued to grow, with the closure of the Filipino Specialty Shop Andhielhang's Pinoy Store in March.
The 2018 Herring season got underway this month, but the impact on the local economy will be significantly less than it has been in the past, with the processing work now taking place at plants in the Vancouver area.
Ecotrust Canada's local office provided a glimpse of some of the work ahead for the North Coast Innovation lab, providing some background on the project for Prince Rupert City Council. Earlier in the month the organization received some welcome funding towards that initiative through the BC Rural Dividend Program. March made for a busy thirty days for the organization, which began the month with a public engagement session hosted at NWCC.
The Premier made a quick stop over in the city on the 26th, meeting with local officials, touring the Port facilities and spending some time with local entrepreneurs in Prince Rupert
And as the month came to an end, Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce, Presidents Michelle Bryant-Gravelle delivered the annual Chamber address in March, highlighting some of the challenges and successes of her year at the helm of the regional business organization.
You can keep up to date on the ebb and flow of the Prince Rupert commercial scene through our Taking Stock Archive for 2018.
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
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