Prince Rupert Port Authority provides financial support for Regional mapping project in Burns Lake

A project that could assist the Village of Burn Lake to expand on its economic prospects will see the Prince Rupert Port Authority invest 10,000 dollars towards a Regional Mapping Project of the Lakes District area.

The funding to come through the PRPA's Export Development Fund assists projects across the Prince Rupert Gateway, for the Burns Lake initiative the focus looks as follows:

In an effort to foster the growth and transition of the Burns Lake and area economy, the Regional Mapping Project will identify and catalogue existing producers, their products and associated volumes, along with other relevant factors related to marketing and logistics. 

The community of Burns Lake will then be in a position to ascertain future opportunities for export business development to accelerate the establishment of a diverse, resilient industrial base there. The project is set to begin immediately and wrap up by September of this year.

Prince Rupert Port Authority President and CEO Shaun Stevenson highlighted how the program will offer support to  Burns Lake and communities along the Gateway corridor.

“Export-oriented industries have a disproportionately large impact on our local economies, and are essential to achieving economic growth and expansion. PRPA believes it’s critically important to support communities within the Port of Prince Rupert Gateway like Burns Lake in exploring ways to successfully leverage their inherent market access to grow our collective Northern BC export trade portfolio.”

For Dolores Funk, the Mayor of Burns Lake, the PRPA initiative is a welcome contribution to furthering the options for the Lakes District community. 

“The Port of Prince Rupert has had a significant and positive economic impact on the region. This partnership will identify potential opportunities to grow our local economy and for the community and surrounding area to benefit from our proximity to the Port and the ability to access global markets. We are very grateful to the Prince Rupert Port Authority for their contribution towards this study and look forward to a strong working relationship in the future.”

The Burns Lake initiative is the second investment for the Fund, previously the PRPA instrument which was launched in 2018, was used towards a study and attraction strategy for the Skeena Industrial Development Park.

More on today's announcement can be reviewed here.

More on the Export Development fund is available here.

A wider overview of Port activities can be explored here.