PARKSVILLE-QUALICUM
Parksville Family Ford presented a cheque worth $5,300 to the Haven Society, a non-profit organization that promotes the integrity and safety of women, children, youth and families and the development of a respectful and healthy community. Every year, Parksville Family Ford donates $100 for every vehicle purchased in the months of December and January to a local charity.
Coombs Junction Furniture & Mattress at 2701 Alberni Highway just west of Parksville is having their spring sale until May 15th. www.coombsfurniture.ca
Chesapeake Shores is once again filming in Qualicum Beach after work on the Hallmark series was postponed last year due to COVID-19.
Parksville’s fire department has seven new recruits from its 2021 graduating class. Niels Bjornson, Ethan Marquis, Sean Mikolajewski, Travis Rathburn, Tonis Tutti, Kirk Wolstenholme and Christina Zanchetta were presented with their badges at a recent graduation ceremony.
Vancouver Island-based Quality Foods will electrify its fleet of trucks to help reduce its environmental footprint, teaming with EcoWest Driven, a new Parksville company formed specifically to introduce electric semi-trucks to the transportation industry. Along with Mosaic Forest Company, Quality Foods will be the first two businesses on Vancouver Island to use Tesla Semi electric transport trucks. EcoWest Driven will establish a charging station with 45 commercial chargers and a service garage at its property on Angel Road in Parksville this fall.
United Raw Pet Foods Inc., Canada’s leader in alternative pet foods and a majority-owned subsidiary of Dane Creek Capital Corp., has acquired The Wild Side Pet Boutique, a leading pet specialty retailer specializing in raw, dehydrated, baked and freeze-dried food for pets. Wild Side currently has two locations in Qualicum Beach and Nanaimo.
Berwick Retirement Communities Parksville recently presented a $10,000 cheque to the Parksville Beach Festival Society to help equip the new outdoor performance theatre with a sound system, spotlights, risers and portable dance floor.
The Town of Qualicum Beach has sold two properties at 189 Sunningdale Road and 504 Juniper Road for nearly $1.09M. The land sales are designed to replenish reserve funds used to purchase the former St. Andrews Waterfront Park at Buller Road and Highway 19A for $3.4 million in 2018. The town will receive $745,000 for 189 Sunningdale Road, a 962 square-metre residential lot sold to 1100916 BC Ltd. The 590 square-metre parcel at 504 Juniper Drive was sold for $341,000 to Harbour Mill Holdings Inc. The lot is zoned Residential 1 (R1).
Pro Pacific DK, a disaster and recovery business, has just opened a branch in Parksville at #56-1117 Industrial Way. It is the largest locally-owned, property restoration company on Vancouver Island. www.pro-pacific.ca
COMOX VALLEY
Capt. Peter Mathews, TowBoatUS
Charter fishing guide Captain Peter Mathews is now owner of TowBoatUS Comox, offering 24-hour on-water towing and assistance to recreational boaters and anglers in the northern Georgia Strait. TowBoatUS Comox can be reached at 250-897-6483, by hailing on VHF channel 16, or by phoning the BoatUS toll-free 24/7 Dispatch Center at 800-391-4869. www.boatus.com/towboatus/comox
Phase 1 of the Accessibility Project behind the Comox Valley Child Development Association on 3rd Street in downtown Courtenay is in the works. The CVCDA’s Accessibility Project Fund came together through its 45th Children’s Telethon, support from local businesses and organizations, $20,000 through the Rick Hanson Foundation BC Accessibility Grants program, and a $24,500 grant from Community Living BC. Lacasse Construction is supporting the CVCDA through all phases of construction with help from Edgett Excavating, Valley Creative Concrete, Dalron Home Improvements, and Cumberland Ready Mix. Follow the project at www.cvcda.ca.
Work required to preserve and extend the life of Courtenay’s 5th Street Bridge Project will kick off April 15th. The 60-year-old bridge is coated in lead paint that must be removed to address steel corrosion. The $6.5 million project is being made by the City of Courtenay with support from the provincial and federal governments.
The Comox Valley Regional District board has approved a three-year funding agreement for the continued development and progress of the Comox Valley Community Health Network, with Island Health providing $240,000 for its next term from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2024.
The Friends of Rails to Trails-Vancouver Island (FORT-VI) has asked the Comox Valley Regional District to support a high-level cost study to convert the E&N corridor to trail. The Island Corridor Foundation, which owns the railway, would need to grant permission to access the corridor for any study.
Tourism Vancouver Island (TVI) has been announced as the new operator for the visitor centre in the Comox Valley. The centre has previously been run by the Comox Valley Economic Development Society (CVEDS). The change includes some staff shifting over to TVI in the centre. The organization is based out of Nanaimo and has been running for about 60 years.
Tara Schindle
Secret Drawers Lingerie owners Nena Bill and Vashti Lehrle are moving on after 25 years, handing the reins of the business, located on 5th Street in Courtenay, to Tara Schindle.
While Landmark Cinemas’ Rialto Theatre in Courtenay is temporarily closed, they’re still offering popcorn and movie time treats via takeout service Friday and Saturday 3PM-10PM, and Sunday to Thursday 3PM-9PM. www.landmarkcinemas.com
April 1st, Comox Valley Charity You Are Not Alone (YANA) celebrated its 35th Anniversary. Founded in 1986 by Sandra Williams, YANA is a local non-profit society that provides accommodation and funding to Comox Valley families who need to travel outside the community for medical treatment for a child under 19 or for a pregnant mother. www.yanacomoxvalley.com
Anderton Nursery located at 2012 Anderton Road in Comox is now open. Give them a call at 250-339-4726, or visit www.andertonnursery.ca
A new Canadian Tire has opened in the Discovery Harbour Shopping Centre at 1416 Island Hwy in Campbell River.
A new loop for cycling and walking will cover approximately 7.5 kilometres and connect already-established trails, including Raven Channel and Canyon View.
The Comox Valley Community Foundation (CVCF) approved a second special grant of $100,000 for the Building Connections for Valley Families project, which will fully fund the project for the coming year. Funding for the project was made possible through Vancouver Foundation’s Robert and Florence Filberg Fund for Medical (Health) Research. The initiative is a project of the Comox Valley Early Years Collaborative, a network of over 40 individuals and organizations committed to improving the lives of children in the Comox Valley. www.cveyc.ca.
Cumberland Council accepted a bid from Colliers Project Leaders to be the project manager and authorized staff for their 9.7 million project wastewater treatment project. Council also accepted a bid from Integrated Sustainability Consultants as project engineer, with a contract not to exceed $1,026,467.69. Finally, they picked Maple Reinders Constructors to serve as construction manager, with a contract not to exceed $1.5 million.
WestJet has announced flights from Comox direct to Toronto weekly beginning June 26th via Comox Valley Airport. The new route is part of eleven new domestic flights across western Canada offering nonstop services for fifteen communities in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.
Courtenay’s Bigfoot Donuts is a finalist in the Small Business BC Awards for Best Youth Entrepreneur Award, Best Community Impact Award, and the Premier’s People’s Choice Award. Spirits of the West Coast Art Gallery and CORE Landscape Products, also of Courtenay, are both up for the Best Innovation Award. The winners will be announced over the course of a three-day virtual gala, May 4-6.
Comox Strathcona Waste Management in Cumberland was named one of Top Collector award winners for the second year in a row by the BC Used Oil Management Association.
CAMPBELL RIVER
Rose Klukas
Episode 14 of the Business Examiner podcast – From the trenches – is now live! Rose Klukas from the City of Campbell River talks about her impressive career, including being a part of the LNG boom in Northern BC, Campbell River’s tech attraction strategy, and the challenges for smaller communities as they adapt to the issues presented by COVID-19.
The Pier Street Farmers Market will once again be located at the parking lot across from the Community Centre in downtown Campbell River for the 2021 season, running Sundays from May to September.
The Campbell River Airport is one of 55 regional airports approved to receive provincial funding to help them stay open and provide essential transportation services to British Columbians.
Twenty inter-city bus operators received the funding as well, including Tofino Bus Services Inc. which serves Campbell River. Tofino Bus received $1,152,184.50. The Campbell River Airport will receive $360,000 as a Category B airport.
Shelter Point Distillery, located at 4650 Regent Road in Campbell River, has won Best Canadian Single Cask Single Malt for its Single Cask Peat single malt bottling from Whisky Magazine’s World Whiskies Awards 2021. Shelter Point was also a category winner, 12 years and under, for its flagship Artisanal Single Malt, and won best Canadian Grain Whisky for its Smoke Point Batch 2. shelterpoint.ca
The Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/Che:k’tles7et’h’ (KCFN) First Nations have officially joined the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) as a full-time member, represented by KCFN Director Kevin Jules. As part of the process to welcome KCFN into the SRD, the Province has changed the regional district’s letters patent to name KCFN as a member of the regional district.
Nelson Roofing & Sheet Metal is hiring.
Campbell River City Council has approved phase 4 of the apartment tower along Dogwood Street near Merecroft Village, two six-storey apartment buildings totaling 106 rental units. Development of the next phase began this month under Broadstreet Properties and Seymour Pacific. The first phase, a 70-unit apartment complex, was approved in 2017. Phase 2 was a set of 28 townhouses, while Phase 3 consists of an 80 unit apartment tower still under construction. The entire project will bring the total build-out of the Seymour Village project to 284 rental units once completed.
The Campbell River Waste Management Centre is amongst the top thirty used oil collectors in the province according to the BC Used Oil Management Association (BCUOMA) a non-profit dedicated to the collection and recycling of various used automotive fluids like oil, antifreeze and their containers.
Homalco Wildlife & Cultural Tours will open a new Homalco Adventure Centre in the Discovery Harbour Mall at 1344 Island Highway in Campbell River. They will launch two new, state-of-the-art adventure tour vessels and introducing a new Whales, Wildlife and Culture tour this spring. Designed to immerse visitors in First Nations culture, the centre’s Indigenous design will feature art from local First Nation artists, guidebooks and more. To learn more, visit www.homalcotours.com.
NORTH ISLAND
Port Hardy-based Waivin Flags Taxi received $27,000, one of 20 inter-city bus operators and 55 regional airports approved for funding to help them stay open and provide essential transportation services in BC. The Province has issued a one-time investment of $6.2 million to a number of inter-city bus operators and $16.5 million for regional airports to support operations between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022.
Port Hardy’s current fire chief, Brent Borg, has been reappointed for another three-year term.
The ‘Namgis First Nation is working with the BC government on a land-use planning initiative for the Nimpkish Valley as part of a province-wide focus on modernizing its land-use plans. A team of ‘Namgis, government representatives and experts making up the Gwa’ni Project Team will review the 160,000-hectare area, their ultimate recommendations used to create new policies to manage the resource extraction and other uses of the land. Most of the Nimpkish Valley is within Western Forest Product’s Tree Farm Licence 37.
Port Alice is getting $335,000 for sea kayak touring facilities with picnic facilities being added on nearby islands, and Port Hardy is getting $348,500 for the construction of washrooms at Carrot/Rotary Park through the Tourism Dependent Communities Initiative. The approved projects must be completed by March 2023.
Port McNeill council voted to move ahead with the playground proposal put forward by the Waterfront Community Playgroup Project committee. Site locations able to accommodate the 30×30 playground space and equipment include the area where the WFP guesthouse was once located, an area above Parking Lot B the green space beyond the ferry at the end of the harbour path on Beach Drive.