By Rose Klukas, Economic Development Officer, Campbell River
CAMPBELL RIVER – The people spoke and the City is delivering. We’re open for business – supporting existing businesses, attracting new entrepreneurs and talent, and inspiring innovation in our community.
Rose KlukasOur cutting edge approach is getting noticed. The City is a recipient of the Smart 50 Award, an international award distinguishing municipal projects that exemplify innovation. The award showcases the City’s investment in a municipal broadband network.
Aptly named CRadvantage, it was built to support the modern entrepreneur, creating new business opportunities for people in Campbell River.
So, what does all of this mean?
The landscape of business and labour is changing and, with a large increase in new businesses, the City of Campbell River identified the need to support new and existing entrepreneurs to help ensure their success.
The way people work is also changing, with the ability to work from anywhere resulting in an increasing number of distributed teams, freelancers, and coworking spaces. In response to these changes and community feedback, we implemented two new initiatives: the CRadvantage and the Modern Entrepreneur Series.
What is CRadvantage? As the first municipally owned, fibre optic network on Vancouver Island, CRadvantage enables affordable internet services to business and residential customers.
By providing this state-of-the-art infrastructure, we are fostering a marketplace in which internet service providers will compete for customers, thereby reducing the cost to the consumer.
CRadvantage draws businesses that need access to enterprise level internet. It provides a fibre optic network with simultaneous upload and download speeds of 1 gigabyte per second at a fraction of the previous cost in Campbell River. Anyone who relies on internet for video conferencing, streaming, uploading data-intensive files, or telecommuting can benefit from CRadvantage.
CRadvantage is complemented by our Modern Entrepreneur Series, which invests in the community’s people. People are the vital component of successful business development.
We’re helping Campbell River’s business people with mentorship to guide them through new challenges. This generates solid knowledge to help them make strong decisions, along with inspiration and motivation to continue the tough work of owning a business day in and day out.
As champions for modern entrepreneurs, we’re leading the charge on energizing Campbell River’s economy and culture, connecting the people behind our businesses to each other and to the City’s investment in broadband fibre.
With stunning waterfront, recreational opportunities, and affordable living, more and more people are discovering why Campbell River is the city for the modern entrepreneur. Here, you can love where you work and play.