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

We are currently meeting with the owners and operators of local manufacturing firms to expand our knowledge base and identify any alignment of priorities between businesses in order to identify challenges and opportunities within the sector.

The focus of the survey is on metals, machinery, food, chemical, and plastics manufacturing with the aim of collecting information about these businesses as well as the current and future impacts of the sector.

The local manufacturing sector is identified in the City’s Economic Development Strategy as a priority area for expansion of which the City would like to support. These meetings with businesses owners and operators will lead to more collaboration across the sector in order to foster innovation, specialization, and expertise.

If you are part of the manufacturing sector and are interested in participating in the survey, please contact Sandro Bravo at Sandro.Bravo@princegeorge.ca.

With a passion for health and wellness and a dream to live that passion each and every day, Carla and Eric opened Anytime Fitness Prince George in 2018 with hopes of creating a space that empowers members to live healthier, happier, and fuller lives. At Anytime Fitness Prince George, they strive to make fitness accessible for EVERYONE.

Learn more about their fitness philosophy and why they decided to open their business in Prince George.

Cristina Bond and her husband Chris did not expect to be owners of a portable toilet business. While Cristina was working at her previous job, the then-owners mentioned they were interested in selling to someone who had a hard work attitude. Cristina fit that profile and it was a pretty simple decision for her to buy a business instead of starting one from scratch.

Find out more about why Cristina purchased the business and how she and her husband have grown its original customer base.

Prince George has always been Dan O’Brien’s home and all of his businesses are located here. For the past 30 years, Dan has been involved in all aspects of logging, road construction, and heavy equipment operation. He has used this knowledge and experience to build O’Brien Training into a successful school for all types of drivers and heavy equipment operators.

Learn more about Dan's approach to training and the services offered through O'Brien Training.

Since participating in the Titans’ Den event, business is booming! I can honestly say that I was not anticipating such steady growth of my new business-baby when I stepped foot in that room to present to the Titans’ last fall, but things are really rolling now!

Since the event, I was able to quit my regular job and turn my little side hustle into my full-time gig, which truly was the dream! Putting my business front and centre made it possible to reach out to and take on more clients, and I’m now officially booked up and busy for the entire summer. I’ve also had more time to create product and attend a few local markets, where I’ve been able to sell my doula potions and connect with some really amazing entrepreneurs and clients in town.

The money I received through the Titans’ Den event went to my “start-up” fund. Without that funding, I may not have ever felt like I was in a place financially to take the plunge into the wild world of self-employment. The Titans’ Den funding, along with the support and encouragement I received from all of the Titans, was the push I needed to feel confident in the goals I had for my business.

Although I haven’t been in touch with any of the Titan’s following the event, I DID have the opportunity to connect with one of the other participants, Yousra from Simply Cleaning Essentials, who has been an incredibly helpful and kind resource to me since the event - had it not been for our few minutes sitting next to each other in the waiting room, I never would’ve had the chance to build that business friendship.

The Titan’s Den event, for me, was the perfect blend of funding, business workshopping, and networking with other new entrepreneurs. To learn more about The Delightful Doula, please visit www.thedelightfuldoula.com.

www.simplycleaningessentials.com.

Business is going well. It was slow to start due to logistical issues, but going much more smoothly now. I have repeat clients and people requesting that I ship out of town.

I used the funding, along with my own funds to purchase my first freeze dryer. Thank you Titan's!!!

Since Titans’ Den, the machine was slow to arrive, and came non-functioning but after overcoming a few hurdles, it is up and running. The website will be launching soon.

I did recently reach out to one Titan. I waited to reach out as I felt I had to get to a certain point before that so I could show them their faith in my idea was well founded.

The value of building permits issued in Prince George in 2020 remained close to the all-time annual record in spite of the economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Building permits for 2020 reached a total value of about $219 million, which is only less than two per cent lower than the annual record total of $223 million set in 2019.

Of these building permits, $50 million were for commercial developments, which are currently taking shape across the city. Every week we highlight one of these developments in our Investment Spotlight. For an inside look into why developers are choosing to invest in Prince George, read their stories in this ongoing listing of projects.

Support PG has launched a “Passport for Your Summer Staycation” contest to continue encouraging the support of local businesses as restrictions put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 are lifted. The best part is participating in this contest will give you the chance to win a local staycation package from Tourism Prince George!

Round 2 of the contest is currently underway with a Stay Challenged staycation package for four people up for grabs. This package includes a guided hike and lunch at either Teapot or Coffee Pot Mountain, a stop at Huble Homestead or Salmon Valley Campground, and a private wine tasting and charcuterie board at Northern Lights Estate Winery.

To participate, head to the Support PG website to download and print the Round 2 passport and head to participating businesses to collect stickers at the check-out. Every five stickers you collect earns you an entry, up to a maximum of five entries. For an extra entry, share a positive story about one of the participating businesses on your Facebook or Instagram timeline, tag @SupportPG, and include #SupportPGSummerVacay.

The deadline to submit your completed Round 2 passport is on July 27^th, so start collecting stickers right away!

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.

BC Hydro has discounted industrial electrification rates when connecting to the grid.

The CleanBC Industrial Electrification Rates are intended to help existing and new industrial customers to connect to the grid by offering discounted rates to encourage the use of clean electricity. These rates consist of two different categories: the Clean Industry Innovate Rate and Fuel Switching Rate.

These rates offer a discount from the standard transmission service for a period of 7 years:

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.