Distribution Day for CityWest puts 400K into City of Prince Rupert coffers

CityWest CEO Chris Marrett hands off the
400 thousand dollar distribution payment
to Corinne Bomben, the CFO for the
the City of Prince Rupert
(Citywest photo)

As they have many times over the years in December, CityWest rolled out the giant cheque this week, that as the Northwest communication company owned by the City of Prince Rupert provided for it' annual Distribution payment for its sole shareholder.

The 400,000 dollar cheque presented to the City's CFO Corinne Bomben on Monday, adds to the total of 7.5 million paid out in dividends or distribution payments, as well as over 1.8 million in local taxes and levies since the company was turned into a stand alone corporation back in 2005. 

400,000 dollars appears to be the default amount of late for the distribution payment, with that amount making for a consistent amount over the last five years of returns for the City of Prince Rupert.

Though long time observers of CityWest and CityTel before it may remember the days of larger dividends declared, when totals over one million dollars were returned to the city's financial accounts prior to the 2005 corporate changes.

Part of the shift in the return on investment has come as the company has reinvested in its operations as it expanded its footprint across the Northwest after the purchase of Monarch Cablevision in 2005.

The current expansion work of the last year made for the focus of the statements on the day as CEO Chris Marrett,  praised the work of CityWest staff and outlined some of the achievements of the twelve months previous.

“This payment is the outcome of the decisions we’ve made over the past few years,  ...  We are seeing great results in our Bulkley Valley markets, where we built fibre-to-the-home technology in underserved areas. And as we improve our technology in our existing markets, we expect to see more growth in the years to come.  ... Our results are due to the hard efforts by our staff, who have made CityWest the best place to work in Northern B.C.”

This year has been a particularly busy one for CityWest,  as it expanded its reach into more communities in the Bulkley Valley, delivering more customers and generating additional revenue streams.

In Prince Rupert the company has moved forward with the much anticipated fibre-to-home project, which started in the city's east end and has continued its march across the city.

Investments were also made in 2018 in the Terrace and Kitimat markets to enhance the operations in those two Northwest communities.

2018 was also a year which saw some forward momentum on the highly anticipated Sub Sea Fibre link to the lower mainland, which will also provide fibre services to Haida Gwaii, the Central Coast and a number of communities on Vancouver Island.

Beyond the distribution of revenue to the City of Prince Rupert, CityWest is also a significant employer in the city and across the region, with over 80 employees serving offices in Prince Rupert, Terrace, Kitimat and Smithers.

The official announcement from CityWest can be reviewed here.

A look at some other notes related to communications across the Northwest can be reviewed from our archive.