Keep a finger on Prince George's economic pulse. Read our quarterly Economic Development eNewsletter to learn about:

The City of Prince George is undertaking consultation with local business leaders to gain insight into the local forestry cluster. The City's intent is to identify opportunities to support the sector moving forward by addressing the issues local business leaders deem most important.

Through the production of a Forest Cluster Development Strategy, the City will analyze forestry, wood product, and bio-product sectors in Prince George and the immediate surrounding area, including business trends and forecasts, as well as human resource requirements for the next five years. The strategy will include a holistic approach with initiatives to diversify the workforce, product offerings, and services within the forest sector as well as externally to service and supply new sectors, pivot business models, and retain employees. 

The City is in the process of securing a forest sector consulting firm to create the strategy. A steering committee featuring a mix of local industry leaders has been created to help guide the project. The Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction’s Sector Labour Market Partnership program will be funding the project which is expected to be released in November of 2021. 

If you are a forestry or forest related company and would like to participate, please reach out to Allan Stroet, Economic Development Officer at allan.stroet@princegeorge.ca or 250-561-7582.

The development of five target industry clusters has been identified as a priority in the City of Prince George Economic Development Division's “Five-Year Economic Development Strategy”. In order to assist in the growth of each cluster, a skilled local workforce must be made readily available by aligning training programs with each industry's unique needs and addressing other workforce opportunities and challenges.

The Economic Development Division is facilitating the development of a quarterly Workforce and Skill Development Pathways Working Group to bring together educators, private-sector hiring managers, recruiters, workforce development practitioners, and business service organizations so that each cluster’s needs can be understood and solutions for providing a skilled workforce can be identified, developed, and executed by members of the Working Group.

If your business falls into the Forestry, Wood Products, and Bioproducts; Transportation, Warehousing, and E-Commerce; Manufacturing (Machinery, Chemical, and Food); Professional Services (Engineering, Environmental Services, and Resource Management); or Construction sectors and you would like to join the Working Group, please email Christina Doll, Workforce Development Officer at christina.doll@princegeorge.ca or 250-561-7633.

If you’ve lived in Prince George for any length of time, you’ll know that the city has all of the amenities of a larger city; but you might not expect one of those services to be a recording studio.

Connor Pritchard has been recording albums casually for seven years, and in 2020 started full-time at his new studio, Pulp City Music. Good Egg Records is a local record label started by musician Britt Meierhofer to support artists working out of Prince George and the region. Together, these two business owners provide musicians with the ability to share their work with their fans.

Find out what inspired Connor and Britt to provide these services for the music scene in Prince George.

Brent Blake always wanted to operate his own business and be in control of its direction and growth. He has been involved in the audio/visual space since he operated a DJ service in high school, and has since moved into a more holistic production company, which offers custom audio-visual and lighting, and live and virtual event services.

Find out how Brent started out with a home-based business, but over time grew out of that space and into Blake Productions.

The City of Prince George is proud to support the Grow The North pitch contest to help existing businesses grow, pivot, adapt, and thrive in these challenging times.

Share your business idea for the chance to win professional business consulting services from MNP's professionals and specialists to help make your proposal a reality.

Two gold mining projects are slated to move ahead in central BC, and Prince George suppliers and residents are poised and ready to benefit.

Blackwater Gold South of Vanderhoof and Cariboo Gold in Wells will open up new supply and service job opportunities for local suppliers and residents.

Read this investment feature to learn the extent of the expected positive impacts of these projects on the Prince George economy.

As part of its work to attract and support film production in northern BC, Northern BC Tourism is offering a free Motion Picture Assistant Training program in partnership with Film Commissions across the province.

This course is being provided to qualified applicants at no charge thanks to funding from the Federal and Provincial Governments. The training includes scheduled sessions with live virtual industry instructors and is offered in a digital format.

More information and application details are available on the North Island College website.

The Economic Development Division has compiled a list of resources available to help you navigate the impacts of COVID-19 on your business in a central location on our website. Resources range from Federal and Provincial supports to banking and insurance. If you would like to speak with a member of the Economic Development team, email ecdev@princegeorge.ca or call 250-561-7633.

The Support PG website provides access to resources to assist your business with navigating the challenges of operating during COVID-19. In addition to a listing of up-to-date business resources, the website includes the 'Open Now' Directory, in which you can list your business and the services you're offering during COVID-19, and the PPE Directory, which offers a list of local businesses that provide PPE. The website also offers access to health and wellness updates from trusted organizations and health authorities.