Local governments, First Nations, not-for-profit organizations and manufacturing businesses in northern B.C. are receiving funding designed to promote economic diversification, clean-economy opportunities and infrastructure development.
“We’re working with rural communities to create and protect sustainable, family-supporting jobs that are central to our industrial blueprint,” said Brenda Bailey, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, in a news release. “By supporting local leaders and businesses who’ve identified priority projects that ensure a stronger, cleaner economic future for B.C., together we’re delivering opportunities for northerners to thrive in the places they call home.”
The Government of B.C is contributing as much as $33 million across rural areas of the province for the second intake of the Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program (REDIP). Communities in northern B.C. will receive as much as $13.3 million in REDIP funding for 42 approved projects to help strengthen local economies.
One approved project sees Kwadacha Nation receiving $1 million for expansion of its store that will include a loading dock and a cold-storage warehouse, along with a revitalization of its community restaurant, which closed because of COVID-19 and did not reopen. Using the new loading dock and cold-storage space, the Nation will be able to store the produce sourced from community greenhouses and transported to the community to ensure it is kept fresh for as long as possible and used in various meals served at the reopened restaurant.
In its first two years, REDIP will see as much as $99 million invested in more than 300 projects in rural B.C. There is additional funding for as much as $33 million available in the upcoming third intake of REDIP, with applications expected to open in July 2024 and remain open until the end of October 2024.
Additionally, through the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund (BCMJF), the Government of B.C. is contributing as much as $1.2 million toward four projects in northern B.C. that will see local businesses grow, diversify and make their operations more sustainable, create and protect jobs, and promote the development of made-in-B.C. products, including:
* Houston – DH Manufacturing Inc. is a secondary wood-product manufacturer specializing in finger joint lumber, dunnage, strips and lathe products. It is receiving as much as $480,000 to support the installation of a new finger jointer that will increase productivity and support the creation of higher-value products from residuals and lower-grade fibre, while protecting 40 existing positions.
* 94 Mile House – Tsi Del Del Development Corporation, 100% owned and operated by the Tŝideldel First Nation, is receiving as much as $422,000 to purchase equipment for the creation of a sort yard for biomass aimed at centralizing the processing of waste wood that would otherwise be burned, manufacture higher-value products and create as many as 16 jobs.
* Prince George – Prolenc Manufacturing Inc. is a metal-manufacturing business specializing in machine brake links and drill heads for the logging and mining industries. It is receiving as much as $254,000 to purchase and install new machinery that will enhance its manufacturing capabilities and increase efficiency to meet current demand, while creating two new jobs and upskilling 12 existing positions.
* Williams Lake – Grosso Precast Ltd. manufactures civil precast concrete products. It is receiving as much as $50,000 to conduct project planning for a capital project that aims to double its production, improve efficiency and add new high-value products.