Keep a finger on Prince George's economic pulse. Read our quarterly Economic Development eNewsletter to learn about:

We’ve compiled a list of resources available to help you navigate the impacts of COVID-19 on your business in a central location on our website. Resources range from Federal and Provincial supports to banking and insurance. If you would like to speak with a member of the Economic Development team contact 250-561-7633 or [email protected].

The Government of Canada has collaborated with Community Futures organizations to offer loans of up to $40,000 to small business owners through the rural stream of the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF).

General Details:

The funds from this loan can only be used to pay non-deferrable operating expenses and can’t be used to pay expenses already supported through the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy or the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance.

Four staycation packages have been launched via the Support PG campaign to encourage local and regional travel and drive traffic to Prince George businesses.

The packages include:

The Support PG team is always interested in adding staycation packages to their current offerings. Promotion of the packages is free to local businesses. To submit a package idea, email [email protected] for further details.

Prince George’s largest infrastructure investment in a decade has attracted funding from the Federal and Provincial governments. The new downtown pool is attracting $10 million in funding and is being provided from the Community Culture and Recreation Infrastructure stream of the Investing in Canada (BC) Infrastructure Program.  

Construction of this project which is budgeted at $35 million is estimated to create 290 direct jobs and an additional 300 indirect jobs.

The Foresight Cleantech Accelerator Centre recently released a Cleantech Cluster Strategy report that outlines a made-in-BC strategy designed to position BC as a global centre for innovation, talent, and capital to scale cleantech innovation.

The report includes a matrix of BC technology competencies, gaps, competitive advantages and ecosystem players. It also reports on opportunities and recommendations for rapidly scaling clean technology and solving industry challenges related to achieving CleanBC goals.

The City of Prince George was pleased to contribute to this report’s findings by having Economic Development Manager, Melissa Barcellos sit on the advisory board. Barcellos drew on the knowledge she gained through the Economic Development Divison’s development of a cleantech cluster in Prince George to contribute to the report.

6ix Sigma started as a leap of faith for Jason Hamborg and with a lot of hard work and a supportive business community, resulted in an award winning full-service content production company.

Hamborg not only credits the support of other businesses, but also local residents who step up to make a shoot happen, and mentors he has established relationships with over the years for the company’s success.

Terry Thiara and Jas Raju are Prince George-based business partners who acquire companies that are poised for growth in sectors in which they are already invested.

They recently acquired Vanway Cabinets, a company that had been operating in Prince George for 35 years, and expanded the business to include kitchen counters after identifying a gap for them in the local market.

Find out how the community’s support of the company, now named Vanway Kitchens, has been integral to the company’s impressive growth in the first year of operation under its new business model.

Opening in December of 2016, Hubspace welcomes innovators, inventors, creatives, and entrepreneurs to an affordable, centralized, downtown location focused on building businesses and community. Offering an array of workspace options from drop-in desks to fully furnished offices, Hubspace is filling the gap between home-based business and a full-on storefront location.

“Up until Hubspace opened, small business owners and entrepreneurs had only their own home, cafes, libraries, or other public spaces to meet and connect with clients. Hubspace offers a professional place to conduct business in the downtown core,” says Community Development Manager, Chris King.

An added benefit to working in a co-working space such as Hubspace is that it facilitates working around people who could add a new perspective to your own business. “It’s not uncommon for the people who work here in different fields to say to one another ‘What do you think about this?’ and get feedback from unexpected sources. It’s also led to coworkers with complementary skill sets working on projects and growing their companies together,” says King.

While the idea of shared office space and services was not a new one, this is the first one in Prince George to come with business coaching and mentoring. Hubspace is the program delivery partner for Innovate BC, a provincial crown corporation. The Venture Acceleration Program focuses on early stage entrepreneurs looking to get an idea off the ground, as well as established companies looking to commercialize an innovative product or service.

Under normal circumstances Hubspace is open from 9 am to 5 pm Monday to Thursday and from 9 am to 1 pm on Fridays, but during the COVID pandemic, they are currently only open to their tenants. Hubspace is available to the public by appointment. Give Chris a call at 236-432-0112 or send him an email at [email protected] if you're ready to take the next step in your business journey.