– Christine Petkau is Executive Director of the Summerland Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Summerland. She can be reached at cpetkau@summerlandchamber.com.
SUMMERLAND – As part of the sector development work the Summerland Chamber of Commerce is involved in with the District of Summerland and the South Okanagan Similkameen Economic Development group (SOSED), we have been exploring the agricultural technology sector for several years.
Last October, an investment attraction strategy report completed for SOSED identified value added agriculture and agri-tech as the key sectors where our region should focus as well the areas within this where the South Okanagan has a competitive advantage.
In January, with funding support from the Rural Dividend Fund and the District of Summerland, the Chamber contracted researcher Jane Campardo of Engage Business and People Solutions to complete a feasibility study for the creation of an Okanagan Agricultural Innovation Centre.
Completed in late June, the scope of the study was to determine if there is a need for an agricultural innovation centre in the Okanagan, to study best practices from other similar facilities in BC, Canada and internationally, and if feasible, to explore locations, potential structure, participants and preliminary costs.
As part of the study, Campardo conducted in-depth interviews with more than 100 industry people, organizations and stakeholders and held 2 regional focus groups where an additional 30 people participated.
Participants and interviewees were overwhelmingly supportive of having a Centre created in the Okanagan with 90% of those respondents supporting the Centre being located in Summerland.
They identified problems and opportunities throughout the ag value chain and created a list of must- haves for the Centre. These consultations also identified that the overall objective of the Centre is to drive innovation, economic development and job creation in the Okanagan by supporting entrepreneurs and companies in the agricultural tech and value added agricultural industry.
Summerland was identified as the best location for the Centre due to its history in agriculture, the presence of the federal government’s Summerland Research and Development Centre in the community, and its central location in the heart of the Okanagan growing region. As well, over the years, world-renowned food based biotechnology companies have begun as research projects at SRDC and then commercialized, grown and remained in Summerland.
The next phase in the process is the creation of a detailed business plan and additional consultation.
Planning is beginning for this. The future is exciting.