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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1539713
44 INVEST in BC 2 0 2 5 Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association in special partnership with BCBusiness. TOP RIGHT: KOOTENAY ROCKIES TOURISM/MITCH WINTON K O O T E N AY sparkling clear lakes, ski resorts, destination golf courses and high-alpine hiking, it's a great place just to be. Legacy industries such as mining, smelting, forest products, hydropower and farming still form the backbone of the Kootenay economy. Elk Valley Resources, acquired last year by Glencore plc of Switzerland, runs a cluster of metallurgical coal mines near Sparwood, while Teck Resources operates a lead-zinc smelter in Trail. But non-traditional industries are popping up all the time. GRASSROOTS INITIATIVES Gregg Berg, special projects and self- employment manager with Kootenay Employment Services, got a sense of the region's potential while administering the Rural Entrepreneurship Development (RED) program between 2023 and earlier this year. The program won funding from the province's Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program (REDIP) to recruit and help finance 22 startups and small business expansions across the Kootenays. Following criteria agreed on through community consultation, the ventures included a daycare that doubled its number of child-care spaces from seven to 14, a bakery, a solar panel supplier and an arborist using battery-powered tools. The $2.8 million in program funding resulted in $7 million in additional economic activity and created the equivalent of 25 full-time jobs, earning Kootenay Employment Services the Community Resiliency Award (Community more than 25,000 population) at this year's BCEDA Economic Summit. Another award, for Economic Development Marketing Innovation (Community 10,000 to 25,000 population), went to the City of Cranbrook this year for its Choose Cranbrook special- ROCKY ROAD: City of Cranbrook Fire Hall and Fire Hall Restaurant (above); Cranbrook (right) is the Kootenays' largest city; Steelmaking coal miner Elk Valley Resources was acquired by Glencore plc in 2024 (below) purpose website. Cranbrook is unique in that it serves as the regional hub for the Kootenays, explains economic development officer Darren Brewer. It's also not, like some of its neighbours, a resort municipality focused on attracting tourists. Choose Cranbrook is instead devoted to attracting permanent residents, companies and investment. It features a Newcomers Guide with information on everything from finding a family doctor to locating local faith communities. It also has a data portal containing quick facts about the local economy and background on the area as the homeland of the Ktunaxa people who, through various agencies, are key players in the Kootenay business landscape. The website has helped push the viewers of Cranbrook's YouTube videos over 10,000. Brewer hopes the next new industry to call the Kootenays home will be aerospace. Cranbrook is seeking to attract an aviation or logistics company to a 52-acre parcel it owns next to the Canadian Rockies International Airport. "We had our busiest month ever in June," he notes. "We had more than 15,000 passengers come through." •