THE LATEST FROM VIEA…

Introducing the 2021-2022 Board of Directors

Introducing VIEA’s 2021-2022 Board of Directors! Looking forward to an exciting year ahead.

VIEA’s Board of Directors is comprised of a cross-section of public and private representatives, drawn from across Vancouver Island, who provide a wealth of business, community, and local government experience.

Chair: Shannon Baikie, Regional Manager, Community & Labour Market Services, North Island Employment Foundations Society (NIEFS)

Chair-Elect: Trevor Cootes, Councilor, Huu-ay-aht First Nations Government

Past Chair: Dan Hurley, Principal, Hurley Martin Group

Treasurer: Julie Scurr, Associate, Coast Salish Insurance

Directors:

Katie Bishop, Self-employed
Janet Bonaguro, Principal, ThinkSpace Performance Inc.
Heather Clarke, CFO, Co-Founder, Poseidon Ocean Systems Ltd.
Jolleen Dick, Tourism Development Manager, Tourism Vancouver Island
Suzanne Hedges, Resiliency Advisor, Vancouver Island Coastal Tourism Resiliency Program
Dirk Heydemann, Owner Operator, HA Cyan Creative Inc. & HA Photography
Elizabeth Johnston, Manager, Trade Services, Ministry of Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness
Angela Smith, Principal, Creative Exposure Inc.
Chris Theeparajah, Sr. Trade Finance Manager, Export Development Canada
Bret Torok-Both, Commercial Banking, Coast Capital Savings
Dr. Nicole Vaugeois, Associate Vice President, Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity Professor, Faculty of Management

A tremendous thank you to our outgoing Directors:

Rocky Boschman, Managing Director, Grieg Seafood BC Ltd.
Mark Smith, Principal, Query Technologies
Dave Willie, Principal, Black and White Party Rentals

We also acknowledge Lillian Hunt, a long-time Vancouver Island Economic Alliance (VIEA) member and board director, who passed away March 3, 2021.

Learn More About Our Team

FDI Community Engagement Project

Foreign Trade Zone VI (FTZVI) provides direct access to Government of Canada duty and tax deferral programs; promotes opportunity in the goods production/manufacturing sectors; and works to attract foreign direct investment to the Island region. By profiling assets and aspirations of Island communities and specific investment opportunities for large scale enterprises such as manufacturing, product assembly, agri-food and seafood production, warehousing and distribution, aligned with community plans, our region can take full advantage of the new government ‘community information’ website by directing the attention of investor prospects to island communities.

To assemble this information and thereby help shorten the gap between community economic aspirations/attributes and the specific interests of prospective investors, FTZVI has contracted, Cedar Arch Consulting Ltd. to facilitate stakeholder engagement to gather and organize data at the community level so as to facilitate easy access to relevant site selection information important to investment decisions. This community engagement project aligns with FTZI’s priorities of collaborating with stakeholders, supporting local and regional initiatives, and improving the economic climate for retaining, expanding, and attracting businesses.

As part of this project, municipal and regional economic development offices, First Nations development corporations and key industry stakeholders, academic institutions, ports and airports will be invited to share relevant information that will be made accessible on ftzvi.com—information such as locational attributes and land availability associated with investment opportunities that may align with the related needs of potential investors. This information will better enable FTZVI to provide informed preliminary responses to investor prospects and direct these prospects to the communities and stakeholders who are most likely to have the ecosystem components necessary for effective responses to these inquiries. See this as a front door to the community data the BC government has assembled for you on https://communityinformationtool.gov.bc.ca/cit-dashboard/home.

FTZVI has a presence in the global trade network and regularly receives inquiry about opportunities in the Island region. Thus, ftzvi.com will provide a convenient entry point to your community that is accessible to prospective investors who are unlikely to wander through the profiles of every community in BC to find your data. The new BC government site is an excellent source of detailed information important to investment decision-makers and this project will help drive interest to your data.

Results from this project will be available as a public service at ftzvi.com.

Project funding is provided by the Government of Canada through the CanExport Community Investments program and the Island Coastal Economic Trust.

MAJOR PROJECTS WEB PORTAL now ready for companies to register

The Campbell River & District Chamber of Commerce and BC Hydro collaborated to relaunch MajorProjects.ca in 2020. Now the site has been updated to start a directory for local and regional companies interested in the potential construction opportunities. The web portal provides a streamlined process for suppliers, services and subcontractor companies to register on site’s supplier data base. This will assist the large contractors or teams bidding on the projects to be able to engage locally in Campbell River for their needs.

The procurement process for the seismic upgrade projects may begin this summer or fall, with the civil work for the John Hart Dam Seismic Upgrade Project up first. The hydromechanical procurement process may begin in late 2021 or 2022. Project site construction at the John Hart Dam may begin in late 2023 pending regulatory and funding approvals. Ladore and Strathcona site construction may begin in 2024.

The site will profile not only local suppliers but provides detailed information and videos on the BC Hydro projects, and the evolving procurement process. Businesses or contractors part of the Campbell River & District Chamber, Vancouver Island chambers, Vancouver Island Construction Association, and Vancouver Island Economic Alliance who wish to register can click on REGISTER found under Suppliers & Job Seekers.

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