Pacific Coastal Airlines Announces Two New Routes From Nanaimo Airport
MARK MACDONALD
NANAIMO – William Wright Commercial Central Island held a grand opening event for their new office at 100B-165 Memorial Avenue in Parksville for their Nanaimo clients, downtown at White Sails Brewing at 125 Comox Road on June 21.
More good news: William Wright founder and owner Cory Wright has been named a 2023 Finalist for the national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
IWCD has started construction on their latest project, the Riverside Apartments in Courtenay.
Ernie’s Blackpoint Repair has a new location for their auto servicing, repair and maintenance business, at 587 Townsite Road.
Mortgage expert Lexi Muench has joined the team at Dominion Lending Centres. Lexi’s mother has been involved in real estate and her father in construction, with her extended family actively involved in real estate development, mortgages and insurance. Lexi can be contacted at www.muenchmortgages.ca
Tiah Workman has retired from Pacific Station Notaries, and the new owner of the company is Brigitte Goguen. Debra van Beers will be staying on. Tiah is well known throughout the community for her 30-plus years of service, and contributions that included the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce as a board member.
Lexi Muench
Nanaimo’s Herold Engineering has moved their office in Victoria to 600-1112 Fort Street.
The Plate Nanaimo has now opened at #19-1406 Jingle Pot Road.
More great news for Nanaimo Airport, which has announced that Pacific Coastal Airlines will be adding two new routes in September: Daily non-stop flights between Nanaimo and Kelowna, and Nanaimo and the Vancouver Airport South Terminal. Not only does it give Islanders a direct flight to the Okanagan, but the South Terminal route opens up access to Pacific Coastal routes that cover most of British Columbia.
Helijet International to the rescue. With the Cameron Lake fire closing then limiting access to Port Alberni from the east coast of Vancouver Island, Helijet announced it would start limited passenger helicopter service between Nanaimo and Port Alberni during weekdays. That service helped out in a time of crisis as it offered travel opportunities to essential services and others.
It didn’t take Phil and Brenda Levesque long to enjoy “retirement”. The former owners of Leemar Excavator Components Inc. in Parksville and the founding owners of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League’s Nanaimo franchise, the Junior B Buccaneers, are now partners with Gibson Doney in Coastwide Sports Fishing in Port Hardy. Coastwide has been in business for two decades, offering halibut and salmon fishing charters for clients.
Brad Knight of 460 Realty is now also the General Manager and Head Coach of the Port Alberni Bandits of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League. Brad was the first coach of the Nanaimo Buccaneers in the Junior B circuit.
Cory Wright of William Wright Commercial Central Island
Former Merritt Centennials coach and also an ex-Bucs coach, Curtis Toneff, is back on the Island as an assistant coach with the BC Hockey League’s Nanaimo Clippers.
Pacific Cove Properties is getting ready to market Nanaimo Lakeside Living, a newly completed project on Long Lake featuring 1 and 2 bedroom units.
Affirmation Coffee is a new coffee shop now opened in Beban Plaza beside Da Tang Chinese restaurant.
The new Hullo fast foot passenger ferry service between downtown Nanaimo and downtown Vancouver will begin in August. The two vessels that will run the 70 minute route have been shipped from where they were made, in Vietnam, and are undergoing sea trials in Victoria in preparation for the much anticipated addition to the island-mainland transportation corridor.
There’s a new restaurant at Schooner Cove in Nanoose, as owners Eli Brennan, Alan Tse and Chef Todd Bright have opened the Nanoose Bay Café. The partners also have sister restaurants the Qualicum Beach Café and Water St. Café in the Gastown neighbourhood of Vancouver.
The City of Nanaimo’s Nanaimo ReImagined city plan has won the 2023 Gold Award of Excellence in Policy Planning from the Planning Institute of British Columbia.
After years of waiting, construction is finally underway for the new Subaru dealership in the former Long Lake Nursery site next to the Island Highway near Rutherford Road, across from Harbourview Volkswagen. SupErb Construction is the General Contractor for the project, which will result in shifting the Subaru dealership from its current location on Kenworth Road next to Nanaimo BMW and having a new Porsche dealership locate there. The operations are owned by the GAIN Group.
Telus has announced an $11.7 million investment in internet network infrastructure for Nanaimo. The high speed internet connectivity is part of $18.5 billion that Telus has stated it will invest in BC through 2027.
The Microtel hotel next to the Trans Canada Highway at Oyster Bay north of Ladysmith celebrated its fifth anniversary recently. Stz’uminus Chief John Elliott welcomed guests to the event, including David Donaldson, CEO and President of MasterBuilt Hotels. The property is managed by Coast Calish Development Corporation and employs 22 people.
Mary’s Mexican Shop, which offers Latin American and Mexican products, has opened its new shop location inside North Nanaimo Town Centre.
Mark MacDonald is President of Communication Ink Media & Public Relations Ltd. and Author of the book “It Worked For Them, It Will Work For Me: The 8 Secrets of Small Business I Learned From Successful Friends”, which can be obtained by reaching him through: mark@communicationink.ca