Taking Stock: Prince Rupert Business Tracker for January 2020

The first month for 2020 delivered a range of themes for the local business and commercial sector, ranging to some potential relied from the provincial government  toward property taxes to one of the longest established businesses on the waterfront changing hands.

That as McLean's Shipyard change hands with the Davis family taking over the Seal Cove facility in January.

Along the way through the month,  we heard of change ahead for CityWest,  learned more of the impact of investment by Lax Kw'alaams Band into the local economy and explored how International students at Coast Mountain College are helping to reduce some of the pressures on employment levels at local businesses

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:

January

For those that are having a case of the winter withdrawals from their usual weekly trip to the Terrace Farmers Market in the Spring and Summer, a Winter Market in Terrace may just help fill that void with a schedule of openings that runs through to the end of February.

The Lax Kw'alaams Band Council released a look at their growing number of ventures in the North Coast Region, with their "Strength through Partnerships" report highlighting the expanding list of companies and industries that they have invested in.

After four years at the helm of the Prince Rupert based communication company CityWest, President and CEO Chriss Marrett announced he will be leaving the company in March.

Small business owners heard of some tax relief to come as the Provincial government outlined some of its plans towards property tax changes.

Prince Rupert City Council heard of a hope from Councillor Barry Cunningham towards a single use plastic ban for the city, though any cviic initiative may be moot considering planned provincial legislation.

The list of finalists for the Prince Rupert Chamber of Commerce was released in January, providing a glimpse of what voters will see when the time comes to vote for the Business Excellence Awards in late February.

The City of Prince Rupert added to its real estate portfolio in January, with a surprise announcement of plans to lease out a portion of the Canfisco warehouse on DryDock Road that it now has an interest in.

Much of the downtown core of Prince Rupert went without power for a few hours in late January after a power outage affected the downtown grid.

A long established presence on the Prince Rupert waterfront changed hands in January as the Davis Family of Prince Rupert, owners of Adventure Tours and Westcoast Launch, purchased the McLean's Shipyard facility at Seal Cove.

Prince Rupert Fire/Rescue were quick to respond for an alarm at a Prince Rupert business, extinguishing a fire at Coastal propane that has since been listed as suspicious.

Prince Rupert City Council may soon hear of the plan from City staff towards addressing the issue of unsightly properties, with City Manager Robert Long outlining the program that city staff hopes to introduce to Council members sometime this year.

Business owners have until May to put together their application towards the 2020 edition of the Northern Development Initiative Trust's Business Facade program.

The ongoing search for workers by Businesses and Services on the North Coast has found a bit of success through the arrival of a growing number of International students at Coast Mountain College.

You can keep up to date on the ebb and flow of the Prince Rupert commercial scene through our  Taking Stock Archive for 2020.

More notes on the commercial sector across the Northwest in 2020 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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