Business Examiner Publisher Mark MacDonald
European Specialty Automotive Services is gearing up for a move to a new location next year.
The import auto sales and service operation has been at 1702 Northfield Road since its inception, and will be moving in next to other vehicle dealerships at the under construction area in the former Madills site between Labieux Road and the Laird Wheaton GM dealership on Bowen Road.
NAI Commercial Central Vancouver Island Ltd. is moving from Skinner Street to the 460 Realty offices at 102-1551 Estevan Road in Terminal Park. They will be in their new location August 23.
A tip of the hat to Derek Rickwood of Rickwood Menswear & Art Service, who has created a new presentation for professional men and women called “Dress For Success”. He is also having his first traditional paint exhibition about Vancouver Island on October 26, to support the Pacific Salmon Foundation. www.derekrickwood.com.
Congratulations to VMAC for earning a place on the Great Place To Work’s Best Workplaces in Manufacturing list, joining the top 11 manufacturing organizations in Canada. VMAC President Tod Gilbert made the announcement.
VMAC has also released its Underhood 70 Air Compressor for 2019 RAM trucks with Cummins diesel engines.
Port of Nanaimo President and CEO Ian Marr
Port of Nanaimo President & CEO Ian Marr has been appointed President of the Association of Pacific Ports (APP).
Marr, who was named CEO of the Port of Nanaimo last fall, was chosen to head the APP at its 106th Annual Conference July 14-17 in Portland, Oregon. Nanaimo will host the event in 2020, from August 9-12.
The APP is a trade and information association founded in 1913 as the Pacific Coast Association of Port Authorities (PCAPA) for the purpose of promoting increased efficiency and effectiveness of the ports of the Pacific. There are currently 27 members of the APP and 47 associate members, from Canada, the United States (Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii), and countries as far away as Tonga and Taiwan.
Nanaimo City Council has announced that Jake Rudolph will remain as the City of Nanaimo’s Chief Administrative Officer on a permanent basis.
Smythe LLP has promoted 12 managers across its three office locations, including Lesley France and Alanna Mann, both CPAs, in Nanaimo.
Nanaimo council has approved a 181 unit mixed-use development in Harewood at 560 Third Street, that is bordered by Lambert and Howard Avenues.
DLX on Third is a Wertman Development Corporation designed by Wensley Architecture Ltd., and will consist of two four-storey buildings, one of which will include commercial space on the ground level.
Red Hare Realty Development wants to build a 32-unit, five-storey residential building at 930 Terminal Avenue that will include a 2,000 square foot coffee shop on the ground floor.
The development would be next to the Cypress Glen Apartments and Colonial Motel, and will include three townhouse units and a rooftop garden. Joyce Reid Troost Architecture is involved with the project.
After many years as the Marketing Director at Woodgrove Centre, Nola Dunn is moving on. She will now join the sales team at The Wolf and The Wave radio stations, which operate under the Jim Pattison Group banner.
A gluten free kitchen is being installed at 3-1850 Northfield Road for Rawmba’s Commissary, which will be a distribution centre for vegan and gluten free products.
Tilray is planning an expansion to its Duke Point operations, in both the office and warehouse.
Nanaimo restaurateur Gaetan Brousseau, well-known for his previous culinary exploits at Mon Petit Choux and The Bistro at Westwood Lake, is about to get back into the business, in the former location of Rewsters Restaurant on Commercial Street. The new eatery is expected to open in September.
Venue Financial has moved its office to 4-1708 Bowen Road.
Renovations are taking place on both floors at the 5777 Turner Road location of TD Canada Trust. In the same Longwood Station shopping centre, the BC Liquor Store is expanding, and MD Financial is moving into the former Blue Ginger restaurant on the upper level of the centre.
Mood Cannabis is the name of the new business at 5-6404 Metral Drive.
Port Place Hair Spa has new managers:
The Child Development Centre is getting an expansion to their Daycare facilities, and Island West Coast Developments is doing the work.
Evening Cove Oysters has moved from Stewart Avenue to 1844 Thatcher Road, and is selling its Booth Bay oyster farm on Saltspring Island.
A new daycare facility is going into the Quarterway Fitness building at 1451 Bowen Road, called Nanaimo Little Champions Daycare.
Remedy Coffee has opened at 10 Chapel Street in downtown Nanaimo.
EB Games is moving inside Woodgrove Centre, from #27 to unit 102.
The International Widows and Orphans Fund (IWOF) and the Grace Orphanage in the Congo was the recipient of over $61,000, the proceeds from a recent Grace Ministries fundraiser “Party For A Purpose”. This from Johann van Rensburg, Manager of the Business Centre at BDC (Business Development Bank of Canada), who was overwhelmed with the generosity of local businesses and individuals.
The funding will go towards a communal water supply including drilling a water well, water towers, tanks and piping; a solar power system, construction of a communal kitchen, beds and mattresses for new homes, and ongoing construction and operating costs.
Mark MacDonald writes about business in Nanaimo. Tell him your story by emailing him at mark@businessexaminer.ca