IWCD Moves Into New Office Space in Victoria
MARK MACDONALD
NANAIMO – Wayne Procter has added another two stations to his growing Gas’N Go and General Store operations on Vancouver Island, with the addition of Shell gas stations and convenience store locations at 2052 Comox Avenue in Comox and 390 Johnston Road in Port Alberni.
IWCD has moved into its new Victoria offices at the Oakcrest Park Estates building, which features 12 offices in a 4,500 square foot mass timber space. IWCD has also started work on the new 13,880 square foot location of Galaxy Motors at 2358 Kenworth Road, next to Nanaimo Mitsubishi and near European Specialty Automotive Ltd. It continues the transformation of the land that was home to Madill decades ago.
A floating hotel has been mooring around the Nanaimo harbour. Woodfibre LNG in Howe Sound has enlisted the services of the MV Isabelle X, a 652 cabin vessel, to provide accommodations for people working on the project, starting this spring. Port of Nanaimo Captain Satinder Singh notes the vessel arrived in Nanaimo February 7, and will depart for Howe Sound in April. Fred Denning, a director at the Port, represented PON at the recent Association of Pacific Ports conference in Hawaii.
DP World, which holds the contract to operate the Duke Point terminal in Nanaimo, has been recognized as being one of British Columbia’s Top Employers for 2024, their sixth consecutive year on the list.Rick Turner, formerly at the Business Development Bank of Canada’s office near Woodgrove Centre, has started a new position as Regional Director – BC/Mid-Market Business at Export Development Canada.
Mike McClenaghan
He’s done it again! A tip of the hat to Mike McClenaghan for earning a trip to Las Cabos, Mexico for his Silver Award for being the top dealer on Vancouver Island for MAAX Spas.
For the second time, the City of Nanaimo’s attempts to fund the first phase of a $48.5 public works yard has backfired. The city failed to make forms available to the public on time, and council voted unanimously to cancel the Alternative Approval Process again.
Jayda McLaughlin has joined he sales team at RE/MAX of Nanaimo.
Molnar Group has started construction on a 145 unit seniors housing project at 388 Machleary Street, the former site of Malaspina Gardens. The three acre property is bordered by Kennedy and Franklyn Streets.
The Town of Ladysmith has signed an agreement with Catalyst Developments towards building a project which would have 95 affordable rental housing units above a new city hall.
Business has been brisk enough for the Vancouver Island Ferry Company that they’ve announced they’ll be increasing the number of round-trip Hullo excursions from Nanaimo to downtown Vancouver. From March 3 to the end of May there will be six round trips each Thursday to Monday. Hullo CEO Alastair Caddick states they have surpassed 150,000 trips within less than six months since starting the service last summer.
The Tony Harris Group and partner District Group have acquired land at Linley Valley Drive and Turner Road upon which they’ll build a 160 unit rental apartment complex.
Finesse Seafoods has opened a retail outlet for their fresh product at Pacific Net & Twine at 1380 Alberni Highway in Parksville.
With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of three well-liked and influential personalities in the Nanaimo business community in recent months. Mike Davidson, former Chief Operating Officer at the Port of Nanaimo and well-known in local sports circle for his basketball playing and coaching, long-time leading commercial real estate agent Gerry Van Vaals, and Benson View Private Wealth partner Lee Odgers are all no longer with us.
Dr. Shirin Madjzoub and Dr. Diana Ruffell held the official opening of their new Thrive Family Health family practice office at 5170 Dunster Road, thanks to a $30,000 forgivable loan from the partnership between the Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation and the Nanaimo Division of Family Practice.
Their clinic is also a family medical learning centre for the University of British Columbia.
The Hospital Foundation was shocked and thrilled with the Windsor Plywood Foundation’s stunning $3 million gift towards the expansion of the new Critical Care unit. The Foundation gifted $1 million towards the 2020 campaign which allowed the new Intensive Care Unit to open in June, 2023. They also announced $2 million for Critical Care in the region this winter.
The Foundation was created by Windsor’s founding owners, Fran and Randle Jones.
Congratulations to Nanaimo Airport upon earning its Level 2 certification from Airport Council International’s program for airport carbon accreditation.
The Vault Café at the corner of Wallace and Albert Streets celebrated its 10th anniversary at the end of January.
Camargue Properties Inc./Le Groupe Denux has purchased 350 and 398 Franklyn Streets near Nanaimo city hall, upon which they intend to build a multi-family complex that will include commercial space.
Nearby, the owner of the former location of the BC Forest Safety Council, the Don McMillan Memorial Building at 420 Albert Street, is planning to build 23 micro-units for housing. The units are under 500 square feet, and will be for rent.
There could be a new car wash next to the Dairy Queen at the property next to Country Club Centre. The site used to be a Petro Canada gas station.
Mark MacDonald is President of Communication Ink Media & Public Relations Ltd. mark@communicationink.ca