John Powell thinks Okanagan Falls has a lot of potential, and he has some far-reaching plans for economic development in the South Okangan community and area.
Powell is the economic development officer for Area D, a role he has held since late 2010. But for all the potential of the area, he said, there is one factor that is both the area’s greatest asset and biggest stumbling block.
“At the moment, we have the Weyerhauser site, it’s our biggest challenge,” Powell said. “It’s the area’s largest undeveloped industrial area and it’s 155 acres of brownfield site at the moment.”
Remedial work has been going on there since 2009, when Weyerhauser pulled out of the community, and the area has been pursuing a certificate of compliance since then. But it is slow going, Powell said, dealing with higher levels of government.
“Everyone is doing what they can, but these things take time,” he said. “There is nothing we can do to speed it up. It’s taking a long long time. My priority at the moment is to identify the kind of businesses we want to attract once we are ready to go.”
Powell is currently researching green technologies as one sector that might be a good fit. But what kind of technologies is what he is trying to home in on, to see how the area might develop a specialty. Companies like Unit Electrical Engineering are already working on an international level out of the area.
“I am building a relationship with Okanagan College and Accelerate Okanagan for that reason. We would like to pursue, as one of the avenues, green technologies,” said Powell. “I am looking, at the moment at green construction, which would tie in very nicely with the Centre of Excellence (in Sustainable Building Technologies and Renewable Energy Conservation at Okanagan College) but I am also looking at power, some of the green energy businesses.”
B.C. is excelling in certain industries, Powell said, noting that while California is focusing on electric cars, B.C. is focusing on the hydrogen cell.
“There may be opportunities there. They are not the only areas that I am looking at, but they are the two main industries I am pursuing,” he said, adding that there may be possibilities of tying those in with the existing agricultural and wine sectors or water conservation.
Whatever businesses are attracted need to complement existing ones, according to Powell. He cites a conversation with one business owner who told him one of their problems was attracting engineers to the area. They need more engineers, Powell said, but drawing them in is a problem, because there is no career progression for them.
“We might get an engineer, but then they want to press their career. They look around and say there are no other jobs here for me, so they will move off to wherever else. ” Powell said.
“That’s something we’ve got to change. We’ve got to give people the incentive to stay and build a life there, to bring up their kids and send them to school.”
