Steve Marshall Group Buys Kamloops Dealership, Parksville Chrysler Sold
The Nesvog family behind Nesvog Meats: From left, Connor, Arnold, Cameron, Josh and Ingrid
NANAIMO – Nesvog Meats & Sausage Company Ltd., which has locations in Terminal Park and on Bowen Road, has recently taken over Dudinks Garden in South Wellington. Jenn Nesvog tells us that what is now called Nesvog Family Farm is providing fresh, local and seasonal produce to their customers at their Terminal Park store. That includes a wide variety of fresh fruits and berries, and Jenn adds “Josh is making amazing Black Current Jam!”
Parksville Chrysler has new owners. Bruce Alexander has sold the dealership to the owners of Island Honda and Courtenay Kia up in the Comox Valley. The General Manager is now Dane Endresen, who was GM at the Honda store and will now run Parksville Chrysler. All of the Parksville Chrysler staff has been retained. Congratulations to Bruce, who has been an excellent operator and supporter of the Oceanside community since purchasing the dealership for close to three decades.
The Steve Marshall Group has purchased Rivershore Ram Chrysler Dodge Jeep Fiat at 2477 Trans Canada Highway in Kamloops. The Group now has 12 locations, including Steve Marshall Ford in Campbell River, North Island Nissan, Island Owl Mazda in Campbell River, Courtenay Nissan, Vernon Nissan, Titanium Ford in Surrey and Orchid Isle Ford in Hilo, Hawaii. They are separate from Steve Marshall Ford Lincoln in Nanaimo and Family Ford in Parksville, which are operated by Ann Marie Clark, who is now the President of the New Car Dealers of BC.
Alair Homes has announced another company has joined their North American network of construction teams: Brandon Bryant and his team at Red Tree Builders in North America.
Coastal Community Credit Union President and CEO Adrian Legin has announced that CCCU has ended discussions with a potential merger with BlueShore Financial Credit Union. “Following thorough deliberations, both credit unions believe that it is in the best interests of their respective members, clients, employees and communities to consider their own strategic options at this time,” states Adrian. “This may include the potential for merger discussions with other credit unions where appropriate or restarting discussions with each other in the future.”
Tilray Brands Inc., which had its main plant at Duke Point, says the Canadian cannabis company is launching Runner’s High Brewing Co., a new brand of premium non-alcoholic beverages. The beers will come in dark chocolate, raspberry and golden wheat flavours. Tilray has been diversifying away from cannabis and now owns over a dozen beverage brands, including Sweetwater Brewing Co., Breckenridge Distillery and Shock Top.
Congratulations to the Coast Bastion Hotel upon completion of a multimillion-dollar makeover of its downtown Nanaimo hotel. General Manager David McQuinn hosted a celebration at the property on June 19.
A tip of the hat to St. John’s Ambulance volunteers Sean “Sarge” McCue, Nick Barrett and Wayne Hartley upon receiving official recognition of their long-time service to the organization. Sarge is Publisher of the Nanaimo News Bulletin newspaper.
Congratulations to DKI-Pro Pacific and the Honourable Order of the Blue Goose International for raising $7,093 on its online Charity Auction recently, with all proceeds going to Ronald McDonald House Charities Canada.
Meat Craft Butchery on Metral Drive is celebrating its seventh year in business.
The Petroglyph Development Group, the economic development arm of Snuneymuxw First Nation, has purchased the downtown Casino Nanaimo from Great Canadian Entertainment.
IWCD has completed its latest vehicle dealership: Nanaimo Wheaton Hyundai, a 22,000 square foot building on Kenworth Road. It features a 5,500 square foot showroom, service drive-through and six work bays. IWCD also recently finished the transformation of Duncan Hyundai’s showroom and interior spaces. IWCD, which was recently honored to be named one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies with Platinum Member status for 2024, is also part-way through construction of the new Galaxy Motors building on Kenworth.
Congratulations to Mike and Frank Crucil, who have built a new residential complex in Ladysmith on the corner of Dogwood Drive and Forward Drive that was previously the location of Dalby’s Service Centre.
Quietly, behind the scenes, work is being done on the former A&B Sound building at the corner of the Island Highway at 1 Commercial Street that has long been dormant. When it is eventually re-opened, with a target date of next spring, it will be called Soundworks, and the developer hopes tenants will include a market, restaurant and other businesses.
Congratulations to Keith Granbois, CFO and Vice President of Business Development at the Nanaimo Airport Commission, who has been awarded the Financial Professional of the Year award from ACI North American.
There’s a new Vietnamese restaurant open at 201-4th Street in Harewood, called Truong Thanh Restaurant, with Truong Thanh Grocery right next door. The owner has been in business for over 13 years in Vancouver, and the Nanaimo location is her second.
Seriously. Wayne Procter is expanding his General Store organization again, as he has added Serious Coffee to their Jingle Pot Road location, aptly called Jingle Pot Serious. Courtenay’s location is next on the radar, as is Serious Brewery.
Craig and Brooke Turner have opened Sip Pub at 106-601 Bruce Avenue in Harewood. Brooke is well known for her work in local restaurants for almost three decades, and along with Craig operated the Sip and Sliders food truck for four years.
The Jim Pattison Group has purchased another chain of grocery stores: the Save Mart Companies in the United States, which includes about 200 outlets in California and Nevada. The Group owns Save On Foods, Choices Markets, Buy-Low Foods and Quality Foods, amongst others in B.C.
Tyler King has been appointed Vice President of Business Operations for the Nanaimo Clippers of the BC Hockey League. He has spent the past four years with the Okotoks Oilers in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, now members of the BCHL. The Clippers have also hired Nanaimo native Evan Richardson as an assistant coach for the team. He has spent the past three years as assistant director of hockey at the North Shore Winter Club.
The Vancouver Island Economic Alliance has a new board of directors to assist Chair Dr. Nicole Vaugeois of Vancouver Island University and Chair-Elect Janet Bonaguro of ThinkSpace Performance Inc. New Board members include Kristi Fairholm Mader of Thrive Impact Fund, Francis Frank of Tla-o qui-aht First Nations, Peter McKenzie of Cermaq Canada, Brad McRae of Western Forest Products, Kear Porttris of Porttris Consulting Group, Taurean Seib of Coastal Community Credit Union, Aaron Stone of the Town of Ladysmith, Andrea Thomas of the Port of Nanaimo and Gary Wilson of Tiicma Enterprises Management Services LLP. Treasurer is Joel Thompson of Redline Management Services Inc.
A 34-townhouse project has received rezoning approval for properties at 330 and 338 Ninth Street in Harewood by Nanaimo City Council. Lovick Scott Architects made the presentation to council. The buildings will be up to three storeys tall.
Council also approved the development application for the new Salvation Army building in downtown Nanaimo.
Council also approved a development permit for 47 housing units on three lots at 307, 311 and 315 Holly Avenue at the corner of Rosehill Street, a Kenmore Developers Ltd. project that will replace a trio of single family homes on the site.
Also, a rezoning application has been approved by council at 5360 Bergen-Op-Zoom Drive which will make way for a 168 unit project that will include five-storey buildings.
City council has approved a development application for a new car wash at the corner of the old Island Highway (3180 Island Highway North) at Norwell Drive, next to Dairy Queen at Country Club Centre. It was formerly a Petro Canada gas station that closed in 2014.
Mark MacDonald is President of Communication Ink Media & Public Relations Ltd. mark@communicationink.ca