The regional business climate in Rossland just grew a little stronger.
The Kootenay-wide Invest Kootenay will be partnering with the Lower Columbia Initiatives Corporation to help deliver tools and services to seek new business investment for Rossland and its surrounding region, including Fruitvale, Warfield, Montrose and Trail.
Invest Kootenay is a regional partnership of Kootenay-region communities who have joined forces to attract, retain, and expand business investment in their community. Current partners include; Nelson, Castlegar, Revelstoke, Radium Hot Springs, Kimberley, Fernie, Sparwood and Kootenay Lake.
“Invest Kootenay is one of the best examples of community collaboration for economic development in the Kootenays,” said Garry Jackman, chair of Invest Kootenay and Regional District of Central Kootenay Area A director. “Expanding the partnership to include the Lower Columbia region is of great benefit to us all.”
Invest Kootenay offers a free, online listing service for investment opportunities and businesses for sale that provides exposure to a database of over 700 registered investors.
“Not only does Invest Kootenay now promote the Lower Columbia region for new investment, it also supports succession of existing businesses by connecting them to potential investors,” said Terry Van Horn, economic development coordinator for LCIC.
A recent business and retention and expansion study of the Lower Columbia region by the LCIC and the Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute at Selkirk College found that 22 per cent of businesses surveyed expect a change in ownership in the next three years, and that 41 per cent of those hope to sell their businesses to an investor outside their family.
To help facilitate that move, business owners from the Lower Columbia region can register their business opportunities at investkootenay.com.
“Our region has so much to offer investors—not only do we have an excellent economic climate for investment and growth, the exceptional Lower Columbia lifestyle makes us attractive to investors seeking relocation,” said Van Horn.
LCIC is the economic development office for the Lower Columbia Region and is the result of a partnership between the City of Rossland, City of Trail, villages of Warfield, Montrose and Fruitvale, and electoral areas A and B of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary.