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The stone archway entrance to Cranbrook has a new entity. Flying alongside the flags of Canada, B.C., USA and the City of Cranbrook is a new one—the Ktunaxa Nation flag.

The City of Cranbrook and the Ktunaxa Nation are working together to mutual benefit. The flying of the Ktunaxa Nation flag is one of the first visible pieces of this relationship, but even bigger projects are in the works.

Here’s how this government-to-government (G2G) relationship got started and where it’s headed.

Getting to know our neighbours

Janice Alpine is the Business Development Officer/Tourism Engagement with the Ktunaxa Nation Council Economic & Investment Sector. Since 2017, she has been spearheading the Ktunaxa Nation Branding Initiative for the Ktunaxa Nation Council, which has included interpretive signs along our highways in the region. Janice said that the signs offer the Ktunaxa Creation and the story of the Ktunaxa.

Janice has been working with the business sector throughout the region, including businesses in the tourism sector, and many projects such as the Columbia River Treaty Heritage project.

“Right now we have an excellent relationship with the business sector in the Kootenay region,” she said.

 One day in 2018, Janice received a phone call from Darren Brewer, Business Development Officer (BDO) with the City of Cranbrook.

“He was the first BDO to ever approach the Ktunaxa Nation,” Janice said.

That phone call was the start of a conversation that has led to a gratifying and productive relationship between the Ktunaxa Nation Council and the City of Cranbrook, with the first visible outcome being the raising of the Ktunaxa flag. The City does have a relationship with the ʔaq̓am community but not with the Ktunaxa Nation Council.

June 21, 2021 is National Indigenous Day, an ideal day for the Ktunaxa flag to join the flags of Canada, B.C., USA and the City of Cranbrook. Many dignitaries were present, including Mayor Lee Pratt and Hon. Sophie Pierre, Former Chief of the Ktunaxa Nation.

“The City is flying the Ktunaxa flag in recognition that we are both here,” said Janice.

“I refer to this as history in the making,” she said, “because it’s a government-to-government relationship between the Ktunaxa Nation Council and the City of Cranbrook.”

A cultural interpretive centre

Janice and Darren are working on several other initiatives but the most exciting one is what Janice refers to as “the big idea.” They want to bring to fruition an interpretative centre—for lack of a better term at this point—in Cranbrook that will serve as a visitor centre as well as a cultural centre.

“The vision for the infrastructure is to tell the story of the Ktunaxa and to create a workplace for our artisans to show their skills as well as to manufacture and sell their artwork,” Janice said.

The building itself would reflect the Ktunaxa people and be an attraction to visitors and residents alike. Currently, the Cranbrook Visitor Centre is a collaboration among Cranbrook Tourism, the City of Cranbrook and the Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce.

This project has received $93,500 in funding from the Columbia Basin Trust and the Economic Trust of the Southern Interior (ETSI-BC). A feasibility study is now underway, which includes finding a highly visible location, such as a site on Highway 95.

Both Darren and Janice are very excited to get to work.

“Indigenous tourism is an underserved and emerging sector in the tourism space,” said Darren, who cited excellent regional examples including St. Eugene Golf Resort and Casino and Ainsworth Hot Springs. 

Other Cranbrook–Ktunaxa initiatives

The City of Cranbrook is currently working on downtown revitalization, and Darren calls the Ktunaxa Nation a key stakeholder and pillar in this initiative. The Nation owns one of the most beautiful historic buildings in the downtown—the former Central School, which contains their offices. To date, over $100,000 has been awarded to this revitalization initiative.

Two other City of Cranbrook projects underway are its Official Community Plan (OCP) and the Cranbrook Tourism Master Plan. Darren said the timing of this G2G partnership is perfect as their work can tie into both plans.

“It’s about accurately portraying our community and all its members in these plans,” Darren said.

Two other projects that are in the works are the ʔaq̓am community solar farm on lands they own adjacent to the Canadian Rockies International Airport on the outskirts of Cranbrook.

ʔaq̓am also plans to develop land adjacent to the Northstar Rails to Trails near Wycliffe. Currently called St. Mary’s Park, the land will be renamed to the ʔaq̓am Park. This park will feature trails and other low-impact amenities.

Going forward

Both Janice and Darren are proud and excited about future prospects of their relationship.

“We’re crafting a mutually beneficial relationship,” said Darren. “We’re creating a framework here for these G2G partnerships with the Ktunaxa.”

Janice considers their collaborative work part of reconciliation as it involves engaging in meaningful relations and includes calls to action.

As she said about herself and Darren, “We’re the boots on the ground.”

By Virginia Rasch , Kootenay Biz

https://kootenaybiz.com/promoted/content/the_ktunaxa_nation_and_the_city_of_cranbrook_a_partnership_with_indigenous

A Decade in And City of Cranbrook’s One Percent Dedicated Road Tax Continues to Pay Off

Cranbrook, BC (June 14, 2021) – Major investments into our roads and infrastructure thanks to the 1% dedicated road tax continues to show a significant increase in the amount of road paving completed annually, greatly improving the overall quality of our streets in the City of Cranbrook.

Since its inception in 2010, about $14,038,000 has been collected through the 1% dedicated road tax and earmarked completely to improving the roads in Cranbrook. It started in 2010 with about $180,000 and in 2020 the road dedicated tax reached $2.5 million. The City has spent approximately $49.8 million on the overall road program since 2010 including $10 million in borrowing to repair and replace all things related to road work including pavement, curb, gutter along with storm, water, and sanitary sewer infrastructure.

Infrastructure investment is closely linked with economic output and is of vital importance to make this City grow and develop. With the municipal election in 2015 and a new Mayor and Council coming on board, this became a priority. The local economy has benefited from the 1% road tax. Positive changes to the City’s tendering processes have helped significantly to keep tax dollars local and employ local contractors and workers.

“We brought in positive changes to the City’s overall tendering process to allow local contractors to bid on this important work. Local contractors were successful in being awarded these contracts at significant savings to the taxpayer,” says Mayor Lee Pratt.

“In 2010, it was the norm to issue only one or two big contracts for our road work, whereas now we typically issue four or five separate contracts each year,” says Mike Matejka, Manager of Infrastructure Planning and Delivery for the City of Cranbrook. “What this change has done is diversified our investment into the local economy, with multiple contractors having opportunities to take part in roadworks, while ensuring strong competition for good prices and quality of work.”

Large parts of our arterial road network has seen major investments over the past six years, which covers most heavy traffic areas used by our emergency response vehicles, commercial and transit traffic.  11^th Avenue South, 2^nd Street South, Cobham Avenue, College Way, Industrial Road 2, and Theatre Road have had significant reconstruction work completed to a very high standard which will ultimately reduce long-term maintenance and life cycle costs for taxpayers. A significant number of residential streets have also been able to have paving and infrastructure renewal work done thanks to this investment.

An important and quite visible part of the capital roads program is repaving activities. 

“The overall road conditions in Cranbrook are trending in a positive direction due to the dedicated tax investments, and we are very much in line with other cities across the province,” says Matejka. “There is still a lot of work left to do and looking ahead our residents can expect continued growth in the amount of work done year over year.”

Looking ahead over the next five years, the dedicated road tax is expected to add another nearly $17 million to our capital roads program by 2025.
For the 2021 capital roads program, several roads will be receiving upgrades and resurfacing from the 1% road tax including, Victoria Avenue, 14^th Avenue, Theatre Road, 30^th Avenue and Innes Avenue.  Reconstruction on both 30^th Avenue and Innes Avenue is well underway with major upgrades to these road structures to accommodate bus traffic. 

The remaining resurfacing projects will see work beginning in the coming weeks with completion scheduled for the end of July.

Kootenay businesses needing to ship their products now have a new way to compare available shipping options and connect with other businesses to share shipping costs, using the Kootenay Shipping website and Facebook Group.   KootenayShipping.com aims to simplify the process of finding a suitable shipper in our region. From basic parcel shipping to freight and cold chain services, the website allows businesses to find and compare shipping services.   The Facebook Group “Kootenay Shipping” is for local business owners to talk about their shipping needs and find opportunities to support each other. The group can be found at: Facebook.com/Groups/KootenayShipping   Kootenay Shipping is a project of Community Futures Central Kootenay and the Applied Research and Innovation Centre at Selkirk College.

Cranbrook, BC (May 17, 2021) – Finding out how many people live in certain neighborhood in Cranbrook or how many people moved to this community last year is easy to find with just one click. 

Our residents, business owners, potential investors and developers regularly have questions like these and we have compiled many of those answers from reliable, trusted sources in an easy to understand, visual format that puts the fun in data.  The new public data portal can be found on Choose Cranbrook – the City’s economic development website at www.choosecranbrook.ca.

“Data is a great tool for innovation and development. This is our dashboard for our community and will help residents, stakeholders and City staff make informed and educated decisions,” says Darren Brewer , Business Development Officer with the City of Cranbrook. “This is an important first step for us to achieving open data.”

The City of Cranbrook secured the services of Ruby Industries, a Kelowna based data sciences start-up and creators of  Cityviz.

“Investors, developers, entrepreneurs, economic development officers and public can now use Cityviz to gain insights into Cranbrook’s community profile, economic indicators as well as overlay existing businesses and facilities over demographic indicators on an interactive map,” says Izabela Bogdanovic of Ruby Industries Inc. “We appreciate the variety of business environments in which our communities operate, and we are dedicated to helping everyone grow and prosper. We are looking forward to a long and successful partnership with City of Cranbrook and are excited to be a part of its success and prosperity.”

To access the data portal, visit www.choosecranbrook.ca/ or through the main City of Cranbrook website at www.cranbrook.ca.

–30–

For more information, please contact:

Darren Brewer, Business Development Officer
City of Cranbrook
Phone: 250-919-9792

[email protected]

Basin businesses owners, creators, and experience operators, this is your chance to shine!

The upcoming #BuyBasin Festival is looking to feature you in this unique Facebook event designed to bring you more shoppers, clients, and/or customers.

This national award-winning experience has proven to generate business growth for those participating.

The #BuyBasin Festival includes coaching to get you or your team ready for your festival moment as well as personalized coaching to empower your digital success beyond the festival.

Please register for #BuyBasin Festival Digital Readiness Webinar for Thursday, April 1, 1 pm PST/ 2 pm MST.

During this FREE one-hour Webinar you’ll receive digital media training, an understanding of what it means to be part of the #BuyBasin Festival, and a chance to sign up for a spot in the lineup right away!

Register for the Webinar here: https://ourtrust.org/grants-and-programs-directory/buybasin-festival/

There are limited spaces available in the #BuyBasin Festival lineup so please attend the Webinar ready to say “yes” to growing your business.

Attending this Webinar is mandatory to be part of the #BuyBasin Festival.

The #BuyBasin Festival will take place on Facebook from March 23rd to April 23rd. You don’t want to miss this chance to join in the fun and see your business grow in 2021!

Register for the Webinar here: https://ourtrust.org/grants-and-programs-directory/buybasin-festival/

The #BuyBasin Festival is powered by The Trust, FestivalSeekers, The Basin Business Advisors Program, local media across the Basin and a collection of Chambers of Commerce.

What is the #BuyBasin Festival?

A unique Facebook event designed to celebrate and build up local businesses, creators, and experiences.

100 local entrepreneurs, creators, and experiences will be going LIVE on Facebook this spring with expert tips, giveaways, demos, live music, and all kinds of behind-the-scenes fun.

This is a chance for locals and those further away to #BuyBasin, virtually explore Basin businesses and more.

Expect a new lineup of LIVE local videos on Facebook every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from March 23 – April 23.

These LIVE Facebook broadcasts will be shared to the #BuyBasin Festival event page throughout the festival run, so tune in often.

https://www.facebook.com/events/718089395555734

You can also catch each of the LIVE videos on the @BasinBusinessAdvisors or @FestivalSeekers Facebook pages.

Interested in joining the festival? Start with registering for #BuyBasin Festival Digital Readiness Webinar here: https://ourtrust.org/grants-and-programs-directory/buybasin-festival/

The #BuyBasin Festival is powered by The Trust, FestivalSeekers, The Basin Business Advisors Program, local media across the Basin and a collection of Chambers of Commerce.

                                                                                                           

Future of Peak Industries Newly Acquired Industrial Land in Cranbrook Looks Bright

Cranbrook, BC (March 3, 2021) – Initial subdivision and development plans through Peak Industries are in the works for the industrial lands off Theatre Road in Cranbrook, which are already showing plenty of potential for investment and business growth opportunities.

Peak Industries purchased the former Tembec industrial lands from the City of Cranbrook in the November 2020.The finger joint plant has been revamped and is now producing finger joint studs for shipment to the US, with 23 full time workers and a second shift of 15 more workers set to begin shortly. The market for these materials is strong and the company can sell as much as they are able to produce.

“I am grateful to now own this great piece of land and intend to put more businesses on it over the next few years,” says Brian Fehr, Chairman of Peak Industries. “Our finger joint mill is already successful, and our four tenants are employing dozens of local people with good jobs. I am really happy to now be a full-time resident of the Cranbrook area.”

“Having only been here for 3 months, we’re really excited about the companies we’ve got on site today and look forward to continuing conversations with some great potential additions,” says Josh Power, Project Manager with Peak Properties. “There’s no doubt that this industrial park has the potential to bring a lot of good jobs to Cranbrook, something we know Brian is really passionate about.”

“I have known Brian Fehr for many years.  He is a true entrepreneur, and he wants to see this choice industrial land responsibly developed,” says Bill Bennett, of Peak Industries. “I hope anyone who is interested in prime industrial land will call us. There is still land available.”

Two additional companies are currently leasing space on the site including the Steel River Group, a pipeline company servicing pipelines in the area for FortisBC and Trans Canada and Applied Compression, a local company employing 20 people which manufactures compression fittings that are shipped all over North America, is also leasing space.  Both Glen Transport and FB Logging are also leasing space at the site.

“To see the activity taking place on site is exciting, in that we see growing potential for new, good paying jobs for our residents, new tax dollars, new growth and great economic development opportunities for Cranbrook,” says Mayor Lee Pratt. “I want to thank Brian and Peak Renewables for their vision for this important piece of industrial land and look forward to continuing to help them realize their goals.”

Plans are in place to learn what potential users of this industrial land require and then design the subdivision of the property, including lots size and shape, to meet those needs.  Several local and out-of-town businesses and investors have already been in early discussions with Peak Industries about locating on the site. Those discussions are continuing.

–30– For more information, please contact:

Darren Brewer, Business Development Officer
City of Cranbrook
Phone: 250-919-9792
[email protected]

Cranbrook, BC (February 23, 2021) – The City of Cranbrook has seen strong numbers around investment, business and job growth and housing development in 2020 and is very optimistic of continued growth through 2021.

The City set a record in building permits totaling $93 million dollars, following on the heels of five years of consistent growth, and is seeing a positive trend upward of new business licenses since 2015.

“Over the last five years, we’ve seen a 433 percent increase in building permit values, resulting in $245 million in building permits for the City, a large portion of which have been focused on ensuring there are housing options for all,” says Mayor Lee Pratt. “By way of affordable and multi-family developments, we are paving the way for future generations to live and work in Cranbrook.”

Council and Administration has been working hard ensuring the community is prepared for growth and expansion in existing and emerging business sectors.  Over the past five years, the City has invested in the tools and resources needed to successfully create an environment that attracts investment and capital.

The City has produced a report, “2020 Our Biggest Challenge, Our Greatest Achievement”, which highlights many of the economic development initiatives and growth this community has seen in 2020. The report can be found online at www.choosecranbrook.ca/yearinreview.

A promising driver of some of this growth is people migrating from cities into smaller communities driving up real estate and development, creating ‘zoom towns’.  People recognize communities like Cranbrook are great places to live and work and are choosing to make the move.

With the planning and work completed to date in Cranbrook, the necessary tools and resources are in place to be help the community handle this growth.

“Experts often talk about how challenges and hurdles can provide the very best lessons, and 2020 has taught all of us in Cranbrook, that we are resilient, determined and above all, a team,” says Mayor Pratt. “I want to give my heartfelt thanks to everyone who lives, works or travels to our beautiful city. It continues to be an honour to serve such a wonderful community, and I look forward to whatever 2021 brings.”

The City has also launched a new economic development website focused on investment attraction and workforce development at www.choosecranbrook.ca.

“We have a lot of exciting things planned in 2021 and ‘Choose Cranbrook’ is the first in a series of initiatives that are designed to attract innovation and investment,” says Darren Brewer, Business Development Officer for the City of Cranbrook.

“We are working hard preparing to host investment attraction events where we will launch the Cranbrook Innovation Initiative, a bold new vision for our economy,” Brewer adds. “Cranbrook was built by risk takers and entrepreneurs and we want to continue to build on that. 2021 is a unique year where communities like Cranbrook can compete with tier 1-2 municipalities for investment and workforce attraction. We have a great story to tell.”