The BC government is investing money into creating new manufacturing jobs in 100 Mile House.
On Thursday, Sept. 5 Brenda Bailey, the Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, announced that the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund (BCMJF) was contributing $1.4-million funding to two projects, one in Prince George and one in 100 Mile House, which will create 43 new jobs. Both are intended to help the respective businesses expand and diversify their local operations.
“We’re glad to see local manufacturers expanding operations and creating new opportunities in 100 Mile House, Prince George and Fort St. John,” Bailey said. “We are building more resilient economies and communities while creating jobs through bolstering our province’s manufacturing sectors.”
In 100 Mile House, the BCMJF is contributing $582,000 to the expansion of Pacific Bending Inc.'s facility in 100 Mile House. Pacific Bending is a metal fabrication company that creates custom products for forest, mining, construction and automotive industries. The money will be used to help fund the construction of a new building which Bailey said will create 10 new full-time jobs for the community.
“This vital support will not only allow us to enhance our manufacturing capabilities and create secure jobs but also enable us to bid for larger projects across North America, driving significant revenue back to our local community,” Andrew Schuil, CEO of Pacific Bending Inc, said. “Additionally, the funding will help us invest in cutting-edge technology and ensure our team remains competitive and innovative in the global market.”
Bailey said that the BCMJF is a $190-million fund created to encourage the expansion and diversification of manufacturing jobs outside of the Lower Mainland. She noted the BCMJF is one of the strongest tools of her ministry alongside the Regional Economic Development Infrastructure Program to help incentivize economic growth.
"Private sector companies can apply for funding if they want to expand their manufacturing, upgrade their tools, build out a new facility or move into a different area of manufacturing. We will fund up to 20 per cent of any of that activity to a maximum if $10-million per project," Bailey explained. "It's an ongoing application process and so far we've contributed just over $115-million to 103 projects. That represents $941-million in total capital investment in B.C."
Around half of the BCMJF is geared towards supporting manufacturing jobs in forestry industry projects. Bailey asserted the fund will help support and create 3,800 new jobs, including 3,000 forestry sector jobs.
When asked about Pacific Bending Inc.'s project, she stressed it is important to support a wide variety of industries to ensure a healthy economy. Some sectors, such as forestry, can be very boom and bust and she wants the job market to be more resilient to compensate.
"We want to have well-paying jobs in the future so we don't see young people or really anyone in the communities they want to live in being forced to leave. It's the hope that it will continue to grow so it might be 10 jobs right now but perhaps it will help them in the future to expand as well."
On the subject of forestry, especially in light of the recent closures of two mills by Canfor, Bailey said they're supporting diversifying the forest industry. Right now BC primarily exports most of its raw timber to other countries, who then manufacture it into products.
That's why the government has especially been promoting the production of mass timber in B.C. Bailey explained mass timber is created by glulam, or laminating, different types of wood together creating a denser column and beam that resemble old-growth logs. She said mass timber can be used to create gorgeous walls, stairs and beams.
"We really want to focus on more value built into the supply chain. We say we want to get more value, more money and more jobs out of each log taken out of the forest," Bailey said.
"We have been investing pretty heavily in the (mass timber) space because it is creating good quality jobs and because mass timber is a really good quality building product that is low carbon and offsets the use of concrete. It also performs really well in fire situations because it's so concentrated and the fibres are so tightly put together it doesn't burn."
Bailey said she doesn't know of any other BCMJF applications from the South Cariboo in the pipeline but encourages business owners thinking of expanding their business to apply. They can find the BCMJF online and have until Nov. 15 to apply.
She also noted that BC's unemployment rate is currently at 5.8 per cent while Cariboo's unemployment rate is at 4.9 per cent.
