Taking Stock: North Cost Business Scene March 2019

March saw a number of business notes claim some space on the blog covering a range to topics and interests and for the most part seeing some forward momentum for the sector this month.

It was also a time for celebration from the Prince Rupert and District's Business Excellence Awards, with the Awards Gala of earlier last month providing a salute to the strength of the commercial sector in the region.

March also provided for some progress in the roll out of a retail cannabis industry with Clarity Cannabis moving their application through the bureaucratic process.

CityWest made some news with an office reopening, while the City outlines some plans for those looking to spruce up their outside presentation.

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 start of the month brought the annual celebration of the Prince Rupert and Port Edward business community with the Business Excellence Awards Show hosted by the Lester Centre.

The provinces liquor stores have once again thrown their support towards Dry Grad initiatives across BC, helping to raise money for the community Dry Grad program.

A new round of funding for the City of Prince Rupert's business facade program was announced in early March, with up to 5,000 dollars available per building for any proposed improvements.

The passing of Jim West was noted in March, with the community sharing their memories of the long time businessman and sing painter.

Prince Rupert based CityWest took note of all the excitement brewing in Kitimat and announced the re-opening of their Kitimat storefront to serve the region. The communication company also launched a new advertising campaign, featuring some local actors to highlight some of the service options that they offer.

Local business came together to lend a hand with a fundraising event for the Prince Rupert Ground Search and Rescue group in the region in March.

Stuck on Designs made the mark with Northern Savings in March, named as the financial institutions Business of the Month.

Getting a glimpse at the current state of the labour market will make for a project this year with Redesign Rupert, Community Futures of the Pacific Northwest, Hecate Strait Business Development Society, the Port of Prince Rupert and City of Prince Rupert all working on a Labour market study this spring and summer.

Warehousing space in the region is about to expand as the Metlakatla Economic Development Corporation outlined its plans for a major development on land at Ridley Island.

Transition Prince Rupert outlined its plans for City Council towards the launch of a Green Busienss program in the community.

The end of March also found the City of Prince Rupert forwarding to the province a second application for a retail cannabis location, with Clarity Cannabis seeking final approval for their plans for a storefront on Third Avenue West. The application process also included a call for comments from earlier in the month.

You can keep up to date on the ebb and flow of the Prince Rupert commercial scene through our Taking Stock Archive for 2019. 

More notes on the commercial sector across the Northwest in 2019 can also be found from our from our 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

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