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Penticton perfect for business and pleasurePenticton Western News Wednesday, April 29, 2015 www.pentictonwesternnews.com 3

Dan WaltonWestern News Staff

When your city’s geography is charged full of adventure-enticing terrain, tourism is bound to play a big role on the economy.

Penticton’s summer months are eclipsed by visitors in comparison to the rest of the year, but Mayor Andrew Jakubeit, who focused his election platform around eco-nomic development, said that a growing niche manufacturing industry is helping to balance out business during the cooler months, listing Nor-Mar Industries Ltd., Peerless Ltd, and Britco as the largest con-tributors.

Many other year-round careers are found in healthcare – one of the largest single employers in the community is the Penticton Regional Hospital with 900 em-ployees.

With a significant portion of the popula-tion nearing retirement or already there, the demand for healthcare is growing. Jakubeit cited the Regional Hospital District’s $325 million investment in a new patient care tower at the Penticton Regional Hospital.

“This council is extremely business orientated,” he said. “A task force on eco-nomic development was created because we recognize its importance.”

He said that economic investment zones have been created by council over the past five years, which have since garnered $32 million in investment and created 350 jobs.

And for those who are ambitious enough to be their own boss, Penticton council focuses heavily on promoting en-trepreneurialism.

“We were recognized by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business for being in the top 20 most entrepreneur-ial cities; we were the Open for Business winner in 2013,” he said. “And we were nominated for the Golden Scissors Award,” which recognizes the reduction of red tape for small businesses. The Golden Scissors nomination acknowledged two city staff-ers, economic development officer Colleen Pennington and former director of develop-ment services Anthony Haddad, for creat-ing 30-day conditional business licenses, which allows for quicker business starts.

“As well we have one of the most ag-gressive business tax rate multipliers in the Okanagan and the province,” said Jakubeit.

Upon taking the helm last fall, Jakube-it said that he’ll be focusing on “creating strategic priorities for driving economic growth and vitality.”

Penticton is surrounded by two re-nowned lakes and a majestic set of moun-tains, so the city drives some of its growth by encouraging visitors to become resi-dents, which exponentially expanda the value of the inherent tourism market.

“We need to leverage tourism with recruitment,” he said. “It is our welcome mat, the foot in the door to showcase Penticton as the place to visit again, move

a business, start a business, move a fam-ily, start a family or retire here.”

“Tourism is the front end of the eco-nomic development funnel,” Pennington said. “It’s often what gets people to move here and relocate their businesses.”

A one-time visit to Penticton is an ex-ample of tourism, she said, where eco-nomic development happens when “they come to an event, and get exposure to a many businesses, experiences, and at-tractions that they may not have known about.”

Often attracting businesses to Pent-icton is the city-owned electrical utility, which offers clean and stable power, he said. The city is developing a dark fibre network, which will offer businesses more raw infrastructure, particularly information technology. He added that Penticton has a strong labour force, and it’s a very pleasant place to live.

“Many business owners notice a lower cost of operation, and their qual-ity of life increases,” Jakubeit said, who himself is an entrepreneurial transplant. Since moving from Ontario more than 20 years ago, he’s found success as the owner of The Grooveyard and Groove-V Productions.

To continue the community’s growth, he said that affordability is crucial to at-tractive new residents and investment.

“We need a strong economy to lead to a strong community.”

Penticton Mayor andrew Jakubeit on the Lakeshore walkway.Western news file photo

tourism tailored for any taste with abundance of attractionsDan Walton

Western News Staff

There’s an abundance of attractions in Penticton as well as a high frequency of events – and the city keeps finding new ways to tie together its tourism treasures.

Connecting both of Penticton’s lakefronts to the dozens of wineries is the Kettle Valley Rail Trail, which links cyclists onto a province-wide net-work of railroad pathway.

“There’s real consort-ed effort to establish the Okanagan as a cycling precinct,” said Diana Ster-ling, head of the Tourism

Penticton Board.One of the area’s best-

kept secrets she said, is the KVR Trail Store, where a hot day can be hampered with ice cream or a slushy.

Sterling alluded to the Three Blind Mice trails, which are world-renowned in the moun-tain biking community. On the other side of town is West Bench, which of-fers some of the region’s richest cherry-picking. If you don’t get a chance to tour the orchards, be sure to visit the Penticton Farmer’s and Community Market and the Pentic-ton Arts Council boasts the best local art through

the Art Under the Trees market, which is held on the lawn of the Penticton Courthouse. The markets run simultaneously every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

“If you come to Pent-icton you’re going to the market,” Sterling said.

While there are count-less allures which can ap-peal to travellers, Penticton also has massive facilities – being home to the South Okanagan Events Centre and the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre, which host stadium-sized concerts and banquets the size of small cities.

Finding out more about

the local tourism scene is easy, especially after Tour-ism Penticton’s recent up-date to its website, visit-

penticton.com“We try to focus on the

feeling – not the individual features, but more about

what the visitor is going to experience,” said Barb Schneiderat, who is on the PHA board.

Penticton Western News Wednesday, May 6, 2015 www.pentictonwesternnews.com 3

4 www.pentictonwesternnews.com Wednesday, April 29, 2015 Penticton Western News

Business has passion for communityMark Brett

Western News staff

Neighbours helping neigh-bours.

Penticton businesses give back in a big way and that touches every resident in some way.

Those donations and support go to local non-profit organiza-tions, many of which could not operate without the resources, to helping a single child who could not otherwise afford it take part in organized minor sports or receive developmental support at the most critical time of their lives.

And in the case of many of these businesses, especially the likes of Peters Bros. Construction, Canadian Tire and the Penticton and Summerland IGA stores, the names of those who receive the as-sistance is much to long to list.

Auto dealers locally, including the Skaha Ford, Kia and the Mur-ray GM have also made a signifi-cant impact on the quality of life for many through donations and fundraisers to everything from bursaries to the United Way cam-paign.

Also up there is Penticton Speedway Foundation which generously contributes and par-ticipates in events to help with everything from school breakfast programs to the South Okanagan Women in Need Society.

Through extensive community involvement and invaluable part-nerships, the foundation continual-ly makes significant contributions to community organizations.

In conjunction with the Pent-icton Vees and Underwriters In-surance, Wicked Wednesday fun-draisers were held during certain home games at the South Okana-gan Events Centre this season, where $2 raffle tickets accumu-lated more than $15,000. Ticket salespeople volunteered from the Penticton Rotary Club.

“We’re trying to be involved in the community as much as we can and show people we do care about what is happening in our commu-nity,” said Canadian Tire franchise owner Doug MacMillan, who is

deeply committed to the national Jumpstart program helping parents to outfit their children to take part in recreational activities. “Getting kids involved in sports and keep-ing them active and that’s why I think it’s important to stay in-volved in the community as much as you can where ever possible.”

MacMillan recently received the Penticton Fly Fishers presi-dent’s award for his generous sup-port.

Someone else who was hon-oured this year was owner Colin Powell of the Summerland and Penticton Marketplace IGA gro-cery stores.

His business was named the Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce commu-nity support award winner out of a field of 18 nominees.

“That really means a lot,” said Powell about the award. “I think we have a passion with both of our stores, trying to support our com-munity. We’re locally owned and operated and that’s what our mis-sion statement is, to try and sup-port local business and our local community.

“My customers consistently come in and comment and they value what we do for our commu-nity and when people see you out and about and involved the com-munity like that they want to sup-port that.”

Valley First Credit Union is another huge contributor in terms of the various sponsorships it pro-vides ranging from community theatre to major sporting events as well helping the less fortunate through programs such as Feed the

Valley.It also has a legacy fund

through the Community Founda-tion of the of the South Okana-gan that currently stands at about $80,000.

Manisha Willms, executive director of the OSNS Child and Youth Development Centre, is just one of the beneficiaries of the generosity of the local business community.

“I really can’t say thank you enough to all of them for their support, without which we would not be able to help the children we do,” she said.

Among the big contributors to that agency is LocoLanding Amusement Park which in recent years has donated thousands of dollars from its annual Easter Egg Hunt.

“As businesses I think we all have an obligation to give back whenever and wherever we can because this is where we live,” said park owner Diana Stirling.

Owner/OperatOr Colin powell of Marketplace IGa with the Business excellence award for community support excellence he re-ceived at the recent penticton and wine Country Chamber of Commerce ceremonies at the penticton trade and Convention Centre.

western news file photo

pentICtOn Speedway FOundatIOn Johnny aantjes (left) pres-ents a cheque to Canadian tire owner doug MacMillan (middle) for the JumpStart program.


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Investment in the future of health careBy John Moorhouse

SOS Medical Foundation

Health care has changed dramatically since Penticton Regional Hospital opened its doors off Carmi Avenue amid great fan-fare in 1953.

Costing $1.5 million, the hospital in-cluded 121 beds to serve a community of 10,500 with room for future growth.

And we certainly have grown. Now serving the entire region with a popula-tion of 91,000, PRH requires the latest in diagnostic equipment and a lot more elbow room. Despite two expansions over the past 62 years, the hospital is often over-capacity, although the staff still manages to provide patients with top quality care.

That situation will soon change for the better – the $325-million Patient Care Tow-er project at PRH is a definite “Go”.

Interior Health is scheduled to select the private sector partner in the P3 project in early 2016. Construction will start soon afterwards and should be completed by late 2019.

The current hospital will remain fully operational during the construction period, with the new expansion to be located on the southeast portion of the existing PRH park-ing lot. Parking for almost 500 vehicles will be provided in an adjacent parkade.

The project will take place in two phases over four years. During Phase 1, construc-tion activity will be centred on the new Patient Care Tower. Plans call for a build-ing up to seven storeys high, covering some 26,700 square metres of floor space – roughly three times the size of the South Okanagan Events Centre.

The tower will include new operating-surgical rooms, ambulatory care clinics,

84 new single-bed rooms, a helipad and be home to the UBCO Medical School.

Following its completion, many of the hospital’s departments will move into the new facility, opening the door for Phase 2 which will see extensive renovations to the existing building.

The present lobby and adjacent offices will become part of an enlarged Emergency

Department – almost four times its current size.

By far, the single biggest benefit will see a marked improvement in the hospital’s overcrowding situation.

Aaron Depner, Interior Health’s busi-ness consultant for the South Okanagan, keeps a close eye on the number of patients each day at PRH.

“Patient day numbers are steadily climbing and have been steadily climbing over the last seven or eight years,” he said. “When I first started here (17 years ago), the occupancy rate was down around 80 per cent. Now we’re up over 115 per cent.”

That scenario often sees admitted pa-tients remaining in the Emergency Depart-ment or occupying Ambulatory Care beds normally designated for patients awaiting day surgery.

“It’s crazy, seeing those numbers,” Depner said. “When the new building goes in, that should take care of it and de-congest everything and we won’t have this situation we’re in now.”

Meanwhile, the South Okanagan Si-milkameen Medical Foundation must raise $20 million over five years to provide the bulk of the medical equipment for the new tower and the Emergency Department. This follows the lead of foundations in Kelowna, Vernon and Kamloops which raised mil-lions for their recent hospital expansions.

“We will never build another hospital in our generation, making this a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for support and to leave a profound legacy of giving from the business community, service organizations, and residents of the South Okanagan-Si-milkameen,” said Janice Perrino, the Foun-dation’s executive-director.

Every resident of this region will likely use the PRH Patient Care Tower at some point in their life. This is our hospital, our investment in our future health care.

For more information about donating, contact the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation at 250-492-9027 or toll-free 1-866-771-0994. Email [email protected] or visit our website at www.sosmedicalfoundation.com.

Dignitaries address the crowd during the official opening of Penticton’s new hospital in March 1953. a $325-million expansion of Penticton regional Hospital is set to begin in early 2016.

Photo courtesy of Penticton Museum


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Convention centre celebrates 50 yearsPenticton Western News Wednesday, April 29, 2015 www.pentictonwesternnews.com 7

Dale BoydWestern News Staff

Canada’s first free-standing convention centre is heading into its 50th year in Pent-icton and is celebrating one of its most suc-cessful years to date.

In 2014, the Penticton Trade and Con-vention Centre hosted 10 conventions, not counting meetings, special events, ban-quets and trade shows. The conservative estimate for the economic impact of the centre over the past year is $12 million and it has generated over 40,000 rooms booked at local hotels. The Okanagan Wine Festi-vals, the Penticton Home and Reno Show, the Pentastic Jazz Festival, Penticton Ok-toberfest, the Okanagan Fest-of-Ale and many more events contributed to bringing 131,000 people through the convention centre doors this past year.

“2014 was one of our best years yet, and the momentum is continuing. 2015 marks the convention centre’s 50th anniversary. The Peach Bowl Convention Centre was a bold vision by Mayor M.P. Finnerty and council in the early 1960s,” said Dean Clarke general manager of the South Okan-

agan Events Centre with Global Spectrum. The centre originally opened on Aug. 4,

1965 and was called the Penticton Peach Bowl. The centre was made possible through the cooperation of municipal, pro-vincial and federal government and served the 13,500 people who lived in Penticton at the time.

Designed by architect Roy Meiklejohn and construction company Kenyon and Co. (now Greyback Construction), the centre is the only member of the Convention Cen-tres of Canada that was built before 1970 and Federal Agriculture Minister Harry Hays attended the opening day.

“I am pleased and proud to be able to refer to this federal involvement in the de-velopment of Penticton, but I think the real credit should go to the leaders of this com-munity. They are the ones, after all, who had the vision and enterprise and faith in the future of this community to go ahead with all these developments which I’m sure will contribute to the welfare and prosper-ity of Penticton residents now and in the days to come,” Hays said on opening day in 1965.

See CONVENTION on PG. 8

The Dropkick Murphys played to a packed crowd at the penticton Trade and convention centre in 2014. The venue not only holds conventions and tradeshows but has become known for hosting events such as concerts, the Jazz Festival and more.

photo courtesy of Jeff hook


Vision to become leader for special events8 www.pentictonwesternnews.com Wednesday, April 29, 2015 Penticton Western News

From CONVENTION on PG. 7

Fifty years later, the Convention Cen-tre is continuing to work towards bringing national conventions and exciting special events to Penticton.

“It has come full-circle and dovetails directly into Penticton’s new mayor and council. Like the community leaders of the 60s building Canada’s first stand-alone convention centre, today’s mayor and council show innovative business first concepts. We’re very excited to work with them.”

Each year, the convention centre sees 120,000-130,000 people coming through its doors, and generates 34,000-50,000 hotel rooms booked.

Clarke said the vision for the next 50 years with the Trade and Convention Centre is to be Western Canada’s leader in meetings, conventions and special events.

“It’s our job to identify and bring in

events that greatly benefit and boost sur-rounding businesses’ bottom lines. Our mission is to drive economic impact and help better the quality of life,” Clarke said.

The Trade and Convention Centre is looking to create synergy with Pentic-tonites and becoming a leader in meet-ings, conventions and special events while driving the economic impact of the facility in the community.

In 2015, local events like the Pentic-ton Indian Band Career Fair, the South Okanagan Roller Derby Association, the Granfondo race, the Princess Margaret Secondary School graduation ceremony and the Okanagan Concert Band Festival will strengthen the local connection to Penticton.

“Locals are ambassadors for Penticton as a destination, and working together helps to further position Penticton as a top meeting destination,” Clarke said.

AttrActing events such as the Aboriginal Business Match and Elder’s gathering opened doors to more conferences and conventions in 2014.

Western news file photo

College grows to meet needs of the communityEmanuel Sequeira

Western News Staff

Okanagan College is about transforming lives and commu-nities.

Since the Jim Pattison Cen-tre of Excellence in Sustainable Building Technologies and Re-newable Energy Conservation opened in 2011, the college, considered one of B.C.’s largest trades training institutions, has expanded the number of trades and the number of sections of-fered as well as levels of appren-ticeship.

Donna Lomas, regional dean for the South Okanagan Similka-meen, said the Sustainable Con-struction Management Technol-ogy program is doing very well. Additional trades include weld-ing, electrical, HVAC, plumb-ing and residential construction. Lomas said there is an increased demand from employers for workers with that education and the sides have formed a valuable partnership.

“We have been able to fill a lot of the classes,” she said. “Students recognize that there is

a demand.” Okanagan College has built

relationships with businesses throughout the Okanagan Valley and Lomas said that is “huge.”

“There needs to be a really close partnership in order to make sure that the training that the students are getting is what

industry needs,” she said. “It also gives industry an oppor-tunity to form connections and ties with students once they are graduating. The partnership is really essential.”

Okanagan College has also extended a partnership to School District 67. As students work

towards graduating, they are receiving technical training to-wards first year apprenticeship, which Lomas said is fantastic.

“What it does is it gets stu-dents on a real career path as they are coming out of high school.”

Since the Sensory Centre opened last year, things have taken off in terms of training and working with the wine industry. The facility has been used by wineries to promote products and for tastings and professional development. Lomas said they are anticipating new program-ming for that facility.

The Sensory Centre was built with a grant from the Wine In-formation Society and a match-ing grant from The Jim Pattison Foundation. Besides its educa-tional functions, the Sensory Centre will host the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society’s profes-sional judging for the 2015 B.C. Wine Awards.

Jim Hamilton, president of the college, said that is an ideal use for the centre and the kind of role it was intended to fill from the start of planning when the

college started working with lo-cal industry to develop the lab two years ago.

One thing people don’t know about Okanagan College, said Lomas, is they operate year-round. Health and trade classes are offered through the summer.

Enrollment numbers have been stable with 2,348 students in 2013-14. The partnership with the school district also in-cludes helping draw internation-al students, which Lomas said they want to see grow. Among the programs that attract those students is Criminal and Social Justice (CSJ) and Business.

The college has a capital master plan, which involves students and staff input to see where the college should be 10 years from now.

A project that has Lomas ex-cited is a partnership with Pent-icton and District Community Resources Society to establish a day care on campus. Lomas said they have heard from students and staff about the need for one which operates out of the normal hours. This would also allow day and night students to use it.

B.c. WinE guy Jay Drysdale, chef and winemaker, prepares for a wine tasting session in the B.c. Wine information Society Sensory centre at Okanagan college.



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Manufacturing sector backbone of community10 www.pentictonwesternnews.com Wednesday, April 29, 2015 Penticton Western News

Steve KiddWestern News Staff

Though they don’t often get as much publicity as tourism or agriculture, the industrial and manufactur-ing sectors play an important role in the economy of the South Okanagan.

A diverse range of companies find the region an ideal place for their operations, ranging from the Penticton Foundry, in business for 80 years, to Jet Power and Con-trols, one of the newest companies to open a facility.

Wood-burning stove manufacturer Blaze King, Bru-tus Truck Bodies, that builds for forestry, construction, mining and oilfield sectors, and world-class circular saw manufacturer Cut Technologies are just a few of the companies, leaders in their field, to locate facilities here.

“There is some amazing business in this little town,” said Perry Grago, president of Swagman. “They are do-ing things here that aren’t being done in a lot of other places.”

Grago said that over the 20 years Swagman has been in the business of developing bicycle racks and other outdoor-oriented products, they have managed to turn many apparent disadvantages of being located in the South Okanagan into competitive advantages.

See MANUFACTURING on PG. 11Welder Terry Wyman puts the finishing touches on another Blaze King wood stove at the company shop on Commercial Way.

Western News file photo

Penticton Western News Wednesday, May 6, 2015 www.pentictonwesternnews.com 1110 www.pentictonwesternnews.com Wednesday, May 6, 2015 Penticton Western News

Skilled tradespeople draw businessesPenticton Western News Wednesday, April 29, 2015 www.pentictonwesternnews.com 11

From MANUFACTURING on PG. 10

As an example, Grago points out that the cost of shipping product continues to rise. But since there is more net product coming into the region than going out, rather than return empty trailers, shipping companies have an incentive to work with companies shipping out.

“Logistics costs have gone up over the last decade and we are shipping steel. Bike racks aren’t light,” said Grago. “We look at it (shipping from the South Okanagan) as a competitive advantage, not a disad-vantage now.”

The lifestyle available in the region, is also a factor for Grago. Not only does the branding of the region as a recreation mecca match the orientation of his compa-ny, it also translates to an advantage when it comes to recruiting and retaining staff.

“We’re becoming more of an outdoor lifestyle brand. What has happened is that people we attract to work for us has changed. We’ve attracted younger, more sport and outdoor enthusiasts,” said Gra-go. “That’s another advantage that was

originally a competitive disadvantage. A lot of our staff has been here for over 10 years, so it is good on the recruitment and on the retention side.”

Modular building manufacturer Britco is a long-term part of the manufacturing scene in the South Okanagan, with a re-cord of steady growth at their Penticton plant. One factor in making Penticton a good central location is access to re-sources like dimensional lumber and laminated wood products from companies like Structurlam, another key manufac-turer, which produces its range of cross-laminated beams and structural materials in Okanagan Falls, on the former Weyer-

haeuser sawmill site. “The main focus for OK Falls for the

moment is the high-end wood manufac-turing sector, the custom manufacturing of wood,” said Okanagan Falls economic de-velopment officer John Powell. “We have Structurlam, we have Karoleena homes, we have furniture manufacturers. That is a sector that I think is a real strength for Okanagan Falls at the moment. It is build-ing on what we have already got.”

Jet Power and Controls moved into Penticton in 2014. Needing to expand to keep pace with growing customer demand for their power control systems and acces-sories, president Devon Sandford made the decision to set up a second manufac-turing plant outside Calgary.

“We needed to investigate expansion in one way or another. Economically, as far as space we were needing, it made sense for us to look at the Penticton market, said Vic Carreiro, corporate services manager. “The numbers made sense in terms of cost per square foot in Penticton versus what we were paying in Edmonton or any other market close by.”

In terms of getting the new facility open, Carreiro said city staff were instru-mental in smoothing the way.

“When it came to getting our permits and so on from the city of Penticton, there was a lot of help,” he said, adding that they also had strong support from the business community, almost immediately making connections for services needed to prepare the space for their new plant.

They also found a ready employee pool to staff the new facility.

“For the most part, our employees are local. What we found is that there were qualified trades people that were travel-ling up north in order to find work,” said Carreiro. “Once we put out ads, we found quite a number of skilled tradespeople that were interested in staying local, rather than trying to travel.”

Despite the recent dip in oil revenues, Carreiro said they are staying the course with their new facility.

“We are hoping for bigger and better as things get better here,” he said. “Our intent is to grow the business. The president of the company has made that commitment.”

Economically, as far as space we were needing, it made sense for us to look at the Penticton market.

— Vic Carreiro


Penticton Kia is driving changeWestern News Staff

Just like the vehicles they sell, the own-ers of Penticton Kia aspire to drive change.

The owners of Penticton Kia, Joanna and David Newman, are known for their customer satisfaction and strive to give that same level of commitment to improving the community.

“We have a program called Drive Change where all our employees get in-volved in a community project or charity and donate time to assist,” said David. “We want to give back to the community that supports us. As a business we not only want the best for our customers but our commu-nity as a whole.”

Since 2010, Penticton Kia has supported a number of initiatives in the city including the SPCA, food drives to help the local food bank, sponsoring local sports teams and partnering with the Penticton Vees ticket angel program that gifts seats to the hockey games to those who may not be able to oth-erwise afford it.

“Without our customers and community we are nothing. We moved here more than 20 years ago for the lifestyle and fell in love with the community. That is why we want to give back in any way we can,” said Da-vid.

Growing community programs and leaders also applies within their own walls

at Penticton Kia. Through the Penticton Auto Dealer’s Association there are op-portunities for their technicians to receive scholarships and bursaries to go back to school and continue their learning. Because of the community work and business excel-lence, Penticton Kia has been recognized by Kia Canada for its high levels of customer satisfaction and sales and service growth.

The owners said their business contin-ues to grow because of the connection they have made in the community as well as their award-winning lineup of vehicles.

“We know that the quality, the afford-ability and value of the Kia product is sec-ond-to-none. Our demographic ranges from first-time buyers to people that are retired,” said David.

One of the top selling vehicles they have is the Kia Soul. With a dramatic look, it turns heads rolling down the city streets or on the highway with a weekend’s worth of gear in it.

“It has that youthful look, but we also sell lots to an older demographic because of its versatility, great vehicle warranty and price,” said David.

In the years the Newmans have owned the Kia dealership, they have seen the vehicles continue to set standards with new technology, sophistication and an increasing consumer demand for a fun-to-drive vehicle.

Penticton Kia managers (from left to right) Jay adams, Mike nikolic, Brent eisen and the Kia mascot received donations of food for the Salvation army Food Bank that packed the back of a vehicle at the Business after Business event.


the Kia Soul, known for its stylish look and functionality has been on automotive reviewer and colum-nists’ recommenda-tion list ever since it came out in 2010.

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A bridge across the Okanagan River channel is both a highlight of the Pentic-ton Indian Band’s past year, and a promise for the future.

The bridge is the result of long-term planning with the provincial government that resulted in a signed deal last year, with construction beginning in early 2015.

Chief Jonathan Kruger said that when the bridge at Green Avenue is completed – expected to be before the end of the year – a huge swath of land on PIB lands will be opened up for development.

Getting the bridge underway is a key part of the band’s development plans, but it is just one of many achievements over the past year for the PIB.

That includes the PIB Development Corporation being named the 2015 win-ner of the Aboriginal Economic Develop-ment Corporation Award by the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.

The award represents years of hard work, according to Kruger, who said the band members, council and the PIBDC

stayed strong and on track through chal-lenges to make thier plans a reality.

PIBDC is the principal economic de-velopment, marketing and promotional or-ganization for the band, pursuing business joint ventures and investment opportuni-ties on behalf of the community that meet the established investment criteria devel-oped by the development corporation, ensuring the band’s traditional values and provide a sustainable economic return.

Balancing social and economic devel-opment is an important element in plan-ning the future for the band. Seeing the success of the projects, according to Kru-ger, is only motivation to keep on the path and keep building momentum.

The band’s current surge has been ramping up ever since the completion of the Outma Sqilx’w Cultural School in 2011. Projects like a new health centre, the fish hatchery, the Skaha Hills residential development, enhancement of the band’s watershed and now, the new bridge under construction across the channel, all con-tribute to building a solid economic base for the PIB.

Skaha Hills has been one of the band’s

great success stories. A partnership with Greyback Construction, sales began for the first phase of the resort-style devel-opment began in April 2014. But rather than taking the expected two years to sell, Phase 1 was sold out within months.

This April, Skaha Hills launched Phase 2, “The Ridge at Skaha Hills.” Curt Jan-sen, vice president for sales and marketing said the growing list of names registered on thier waiting list was a good indication their is going to be as much demand as for the initial offering.

And completition of a $3 million dam project at Eneas Lake, puts the band in the enviable position of controlling the the largest water licence of any federal reserve in Canada.

In May, the PIB played host, for the third time, to Aboriginal Business Match, a conference that brings together First Nations from across B.C. and, this year, Alberta, with private sector companies. The event has thrived in Penticton, with an estimated $60 million in business deals created at the 2014 conference, compared to $2 million at the first ABM, hosted in Prince George in 2012.

ABM has also grown in the number of people attending, and is taking over both the South Okanagan Events Centre and the Trade and Convention Centre in 2015, as well as expanding across the country, with ABM events planned for Saskatch-ewan and Ontario as well.

Another big and long-awaited event completed this year was the Kt cp’alk’ stim Fish Hatchery, a $9 million project that opened in September after more than a decade of planning.

With a capacity of producing 5,000,000 salmon fry a year, plus a state of the art laboratory, the hatchery is a key factor in the Okanagan Nation Alliance salmon restoration plans as well as creat-ing employment.

So much has happened that Kruger said the phrase “We are doing so many great things” has become a regular part of his vocabulary. Seeing years of planning, development and relationship building coming together, and building real struc-tures that people can see, feel, and walk through themselves, is a great source of pride for the PIB community, according to Kruger.

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Sporting events an economic driver

Emanuel SequeiraWestern News Staff

Sports is a big dollar economic generator for Penticton and the South Okanagan.

Those dollars come from events like Prospera Granfondo Axel Merckx Okanagan (PGAMO), Challenge Pent-icton, the Canucks Young Stars Classic, Apex Mountain Resort, the 2016 B.C. Winter Games as well as youth tourna-ments.

Rolling into Penticton for the first time in 2011, PGAMO, a cycling event for all skill levels offering three dis-tances, including a kids race, gener-ated $2.2 million over that weekend and Jeff Plant, event director through Axis Events Inc., said that the event has grown steadily over the four years. In 2014, the event brought in roughly $3.4 million, similar to 2013. Figures are generated using a Canadian Sport Tour-ism Alliance sport tourism economic assessment model. Plant argues that the impact of cycling tourism driven by the event, with teams, groups and individu-als that come to train and people who vacation here based around cycling, “has a greater impact than the event it-self.”

“It drives a whole bunch of things. It’s been key in the recognition of the South Okanagan,” said Plant. “It’s one of Can-ada’s best cycling destinations. Our re-search shows the events like Granfondo attract a very desirable demographic. A mature, engaged and active one, above average household income levels.”

Triathlons are popular in the Okana-gan and Challenge Penticton appears to be on its way to re-inventing itself fol-lowing three decades as Ironman.

The second Valley First Challenge Penticton attracted about 1,350 athletes with 571 individuals competing and 486 competing in relay teams.

Despite low participant numbers, organizers and athletes believe it will grow.

“I just love the course here. I wanted to support the change and if nobody sup-ports the local races they won’t happen,” said local pro athlete Jen Annett. “This race is going to get big and I know it.

They did an amazing job.”Following the completion of the

2014 race, former Penticton mayor Garry Litke handed over the reigns to Kevin Cutjar and Michael Brown, who purchased the license from the city for $300,000 to be paid over five years. That money, along with the $125,000 re-ceived from the provincial government, will go towards paying the debt accu-mulated from the first two years. Cut-jar, who had two top-10 finishes in the pro male division in 11 Subaru Ironman Canada races, has Litke’s confidence that their experience and reputation can help the race grow.

“It’s going to provide a huge eco-nomic spinoff with the City of Penticton and the South Okanagan,” said Litke. “It’s going to be an even better race than what we saw on Sunday, which was already pretty awesome. It was a great race, so well run.”

Cutjar and Brown have a vision for Challenge Penticton. Cutjar would like

to see a week of endurance events for athletes before the race and a festival to create a new vibe with entertainment. There will be a stadium-style finish and an energy zone.

“Have a more party atmosphere to bring more of the community to the event,” said Cutjar. “You would not

want to miss the last week of August in Penticton.”

As some feel Challenge Penticton signals the end of summer, then the Canucks Young Stars Classic kicks off hockey.

See SPORTS on PG. 16

The Young Stars Classic, which has been held for four years in Penticton, has grown into a major draw for the area, giving hockey fans a chance to see future stars in the making.

Challenge PenTiCTon winner Jeffrey Symonds trades high-fives with spectators at last summer’s race.



Facilities and natural surroundings draws athletes and fansFrom SPORTS on PG. 15Last fall’s Canucks Young Stars Classic

sold 16,500 tickets over the four days. Only two games, a tilt between the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames, and the Edmonton Oil-ers and Jets, attracted crowds fewer than 2,000, yet still attracted more than 1,500. In the three years the tournament has been on, 65 players have played in the NHL and it will only grow.

Event chair Andrew Jakubeit said at the conclusion of the classic that attendance sur-passed the previous year because of the 12 first round draft picks showcased.

Flames GM Brad Treliving said he was impressed with the crowds, though the for-mer Penticton Knight admitted to some bias because of his Penticton roots.

“It’s not only one of the most picturesque parts of the world, there are great people here, great fans,” he said. “A really knowledgable fan base. It’s not surprising they have sup-ported it as they have.”

With the Edmonton Oilers winning the NHL’s draft lottery for the fourth time in six years, and expected to draft Erie Otters phe-nom Connor McDavid, described by media as a “generational talent” that should make the Classic a must-watch next fall.

On the ski hill, Mount Baldy Ski Hill re-opened in Oliver after a year-long hiatus and had favourable conditions, but an early spring made it difficult to attract skiers and boarders.

“We had a great year and incredible con-ditions compared to so many other resorts across Canada, but it’s so warm in the valley, that people forgot about skiing,” said Dave Howard, vice president of Baldy Capital Cor-poration, following the first season of the hill’s new management. “What our goal is now, is to meet with the community leaders, and see what they want Mount Baldy to become

in the future.”At Apex Mountain Resort, the hills were

packed with skiers from December through February, though James Shalman, general manager of the resort, said local visits de-clined. He suspects it was largely a result of spring-like conditions being deceptive.

“Skiers travelling around the province have been the most impressed. They’ve told us that we really have the best snow in the province,” he said.

Crews at Apex Mountain worked hard at building a strong base when a dry spell was experienced in the middle of winter. When spring hit, conditions attracted more skiers.

“Spring skiing has been absolutely fantas-tic,” Shalman said. “We call it ‘eagles snow’ or ‘heroes snow,’ and what that means is just that top layer of snow gets nice and soft, and really allows your skis or snowboard to re-ally grip into it, making you feel like you’re an even better skier or snowboarder than you actually are, because it’s really grippy and fun

snow to ski.”Apex Mountain was open until April 6

and produced some of the best conditions of the season.

“Come July, people start saying to them-selves, ‘Man, I really should have taken ad-vantage of those last two weeks of the sea-son.””

In February 2016, Penticton will be host-ing the best athletes in the province for the B.C. Winter Games. The city is expected to be welcoming as many as 2,087 partici-pants (1,507 athletes, 367 coaches, and 213 officials) from eight regions. The games will feature 17 sports with the age being specific to each sport, though the youngest is nine in gymnastics and figure skating and the oldest is 17 in netball.

Athletes with a disability will compete in wheelchair basketball, Special Olympics figure skating, para alpine skiing and cross country skiing.

The province is providing a base funding

of $525,000 through the BC Games Society, along with the city providing $45,000 and $50,000 in-kind services to the Games.

Penticton will see an approximate $1.6 million economic impact, which is based on a study conducted at the Mission 2014 BC Winter Games.

Minor sports are also a contributor as Penticton Minor Hockey Association hosted 12 tournaments this past season, including capping off the 2014-15 season as hosts of the BC Hockey Female Midget hockey tourna-ment, which pumped $282,744 into the com-munity in mid -March. On the soccer pitch, Pinnacles FC hosts three tournaments a year, attracting teams from B.C. and Alberta, while Penticton Minor Lacrosse Association’s three tournaments this season are full. Those are just some from the minor sports scene.

Penticton and the South Okanagan benefit from weather and facilities that make people want to come here and play or enjoy taking in great action.

To make visitors feel warm when they come to the City of Penticton is formulating a welcoming team to combine the interests of tourists and locals alike. Economic develop-ment officer Colleen Pennington is looking to assemble a group of relevant stakeholders who will demonstrate more of the commu-nity’s value – although the idea is still in its preliminary stage.

“What we really want to do is leverage that tourism into resident and business re-cruitment,” she said.

In addition to its natural surroundings, a significant allure of Penticton is the many op-tions for athletic and professional training.

“We hear from a lot of Penticton business owners that there’s something about the life-style of the community that really suits their personal goals.”


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City as strong as its coreDale Boyd

Western News Staff

Historically a city is only as strong as its downtown core.

“It is where everybody goes. If your downtown is dying, your city is dying, so it’s really important to continually put in to our downtown and support our downtown and keep it strong,” said Kerri Milton, executive director Down-town Penticton.

Penticton is home to the largest downtown in the South Okanagan and supports surrounding communities in-cluding Oliver, Keremeos and Osoyoos.

Perhaps the most key feature in Downtown Penticton is the bordering Okanagan Lake.

“It’s very rare for a downtown to have a lake in it. We have Okanagan Lake right in our downtown with its own beaches, which is amazing,” Mil-ton said.

Along with Okanagan Lake, Down-town Penticton features tons of green space including Gyro Park at the end of Main Street, Okanagan Lake Park along the lakeshore and the Rotary Park at the corner of Lakeshore Drive and Martin Street.

These spaces play a big role in bringing many family-friendly and free events downtown and feature free music in the parks all through July and August.

Penticton’s downtown is also host to the Downtown Community Market, the biggest of its kind in the Okanagan featuring hundreds of vendors selling everything from handmade goods to clothing, food and jewellery. The Com-munity Market, which started in 2008, runs from May to October with new and exciting events highlighting this year.

“What’s new with the markets is we’re doing a lot more fun interactive stuff in the markets,” Milton said.

One of these new events includes the first ever Fire Truck Pull on June 6. The event is raising funds for muscular dys-trophy and is set to have two teams rac-ing to pull a firetruck as fast as they can past the finish line.

Another event coming to the markets is the protective services S.O.S. Fest on May 9, hosting local firefighters, police, search and rescue and paramedics.

Downtown Penticton is also a prime location for the many events and festi-vals that make their way through the city.

The Sunshine Cabaret, Peach City Beach Cruise, Canada Day festivities, B.C. Day and what is considered the larg-est free festival in all of Canada, Pentic-ton’s Peach Festival.

“Those events bring the people down-town which then translates to dollars spent,” Milton said.

“We also give the downtown mer-chants the opportunity to be vendors in the park so they can make some sales right there in the park as well.

The core is also a hub for local busi-nesses.

“What’s really interesting about our downtown is that we don’t have one big anchor box store to bring you to down-town. It’s a whole bunch of unique stores,” Milton said.

A total of 700 businesses are located in Downtown Penticton and the majority of Main Street and the 200 and 300 blocks of Martin Street are dedicated to indepen-dent retailers.

“Something really great that they do is that a lot of them have really embraced online shopping so they have really strong social media representation so there is people in Kelowna messaging them on Facebook to buy things from their store,” Milton said.

Milton noted that this year, Something Pretty Boutique on Front Street was a definite standout.

“It just has really hit the market as to what people want to see and they have re-ally embraced the social media aspect and have a strong presence on it and is doing amazing sales through that,” Milton said.

The Downtown Penticton Association is also dedicated to promoting love for Penticton.

One example is the year-long I Heart Penticton campaign. The objective is to make Pentictonites remember all the things they love about the community.

“Lots of Pentictonites have this image that you can’t get what you need here, that you have to go to Kelowna for stuff,” Mil-ton said.

“It’s that whole small-town stigma that Penticton still has. We have everything that you need, so we need to just keep re-minding people of that.”

The campaign will also make periodic appearances at conventions that come through town with the logo featured on the bags of free goodies and the items in the bag will feature products from lo-cal businesses as well as a guidebook with coupons and locations of businesses

Downtown. That’s only the beginning according to

Milton. “There will be all kinds of new I Heart

Penticton stuff as the year progresses,” she said.

“I know there’s been a lot of shop local campaigns and it’s a bit redundant to keep

telling people to shop local, so this is a creative way of reminding people of how great Penticton is.”

Whether it’s a trip to the beach, some local shopping or a fun, free event accompanied by the Okana-gan sunshine, Downtown Penticton has got it all.

LocaL Benjamin moore owners Tracy and john Kelly got out their paint buckets when the community helped win the Benjamin moore Paint What matters contest revitalization contest in 2013.



Penticton Airport cruising for record passenger numbersWestern News Staff

The friendly skies over Penticton Re-gional Airport are getting a lot busier thanks to improved facilities and what has turned out be a needed consumer connection to Calgary.

Since WestJet Encore started it’s daily, seven-day-a-week flights to the Alberta city late last year, response has been so good, a makeshift overflow parking lot to accommo-date traffic has been added.

According to airport manager David Al-len the good news has spilled over in the Air Canada Jazz market between the Peach City and Vancouver as well as charter flights.

“I don’t have the percentage numbers but it’s up over 100,000 passengers, that dialing in the WestJet flight once a day and they bring with it other traffic and even Jazz’s count went up so it was a very good year at the end,” said Allen. “That was great to see and we can only hope to see that continue into the future.”

WestJet Encore president Ferio Pugliese was one of the passengers aboard the inaugu-ral flight from Calgary to Penticton.

“This one’s (service between the two cit-

ies) been a long time coming and we’re re-ally excited about it,” said Pugliese. “We were looking forward to this fall and, more impor-tantly, as we build this through next summer.

“Penticton just makes complete sense.”WestJet Encore currently uses a 78-pas-

senger Bombardier Nextgen Q400 turboprop aircraft on the route.

Air Canada Jazz flights between Penticton and Vancouver are scheduled to jump from three to four a day as they have for each of the last two years.

The company is already booking seats on the De Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft (DH3) which fly between the two cities on its website starting in May.

In addition to the increased number of flights, the landings are also a bit smoother as a result of the runway overlay project that happened earlier in the year.

“By putting a whole new blacktop on the runway, it will extend the life of the runway and the aircraft movement area, so overall things are going very well,” said Allen.

One of the airports best customers in terms of landing fees is HNZ Topflight

which was formerly known as the Cana-dian Helicopters School of Advanced Flight Training.

Known around the world for the qual-ity of it’s training programs, especially the mountain flight training, the company re-cently added another feather to its cap by earning the Bell Helicopter endorsement for that program using Bell aircraft.

Airbus Helicopter Canada gave a simi-lar endorsement to the company in 2009.

“This facility has really brought us into the modern age,” said Don Venturi, who took over the managerial duties in the spring of 2014 from Jan Rustad. “Train-ing has been going on consistently for 64 years this year and we looked at what the future holds and how do we entice more people to come here.”

How the company decided to do that, and at the same express its confidence in the airport, was building a $5 million, 20,000-square-foot facility to house its op-erations.

Venturi said the structure has added a higher degree of professionalism to its

programs and an increase in client num-bers which he added is a big bonus to Pent-icton as well.

“There is a tremendous spinoff benefit for city businesses, especially during the off season,” he said. “With us it’s all mili-tary, paramilitary or police (clients) and they’re being paid and they’re on expenses and throughout the year that’s 2,500 room nights and sometimes more. These pilots are all being paid and expense accounts and they eat in the restaurants and rent cars.”

HNZ has an annual payroll of over a million dollars with a total of 12 staff members and a fleet of six helicopters.

Just down the runway is the airport’s other commercial rotary wing company, Eclipse Helicopters, formerly run by Eric Stoof who has since turned over the reigns to Derek Robinson.

Eclipse has two helicopters and are in-volved in just about every aspect of char-ter service ranging from air ambulance, search and rescue, heli-skiing, forest fires, instruction and recreational flights.


Farmers in the Okanagan Val-ley aren’t immune from the ups and downs of market pricing, but the president of the BC Fruit Grow-ers Association says the industry is leaving a negative outlook behind.

“I think we have changed the direction already,” said Fred Steele, now in his second term as BCFGA president. Where growers were once pulling orchards out and let-ting the land lie fallow, now they are replanting immediately with high-value cherry varieties or new strains of apples.

In the short term, Steele said, the drop in the value of the Canadian dollar has helped with sales to for-eign markets, and in the long-term, seven-year, $8.4 million provincial replant program will help rebuild the industry.

But the key factor, according to Steele, is a new industry strat-egy being developed to create more inventory and jobs through some innovative thinking, and the new replant program is the lynchpin to

making them work.“We have to change. We are go-

ing in a positive direction to yield, not a sustainable future, but a posi-tive future,” said Steele. “That, in itself will create sustainability.”

High density plantings are also

a factor. Growers are replanting at higher densities with premium new varieties, increasing both their yield per acre and price per pound.

“We could plant all the hillsides we wanted with ambrosia and we still wouldn’t have enough. There is

a lot of room to go in that direction,” said Steele, noting that ambrosia is just one of many newer varieties.

Export markets are also chang-ing. BC cherries are now being sold in China, and Steele notes India is also a vast untapped market and Pa-cific Rim trade agreements are im-proving the outlook with a number of countries.

“In South Korea right now, if you were to send a boatload of apples, it would be a 45 cent tariff. In seven years, there won’t be any tariff because of the trade deal that was negotiated,” said Steele adding that developing the ability to supply those niche markets with the size, quality and varieties of fruit they demand is a solid industry strategy.

“When the rest of the world looks at B.C., we are in a very unique position. We have clean air, clean water … all of those things, so your product now becomes more desirable. Now you just have to get people to pay for it,” said Steele. “We can ship those apples in there at a much higher price. By doing it by niche market, you make more money and are a viable

industry.”And with being “a viable in-

dustry” comes other benefits, ac-cording to Steele.

“That’s a huge difference. When you are working together, the government looks at you as a way to increase their tax base,” Steele said, explaining that he would rather see the provincial government look on agriculture as a partner, rather than a group constantly needing support.

These changes don’t happen overnight, but Steele said that even though they are still devel-oping a new industry strategy, the outlook is positive.

“A positive attitude is infec-tious, people want to be part of that. There were times when this industry wasn’t very positive, but they are now,” said Steele. “You have to find a mechanism and a means within the system to make the industry profitable. And we have set out on that road, the re-plant is part of it, niche market-ing for export, making sure we are the top of the world in quality and in food safety.”

Farmer Steve Brown, showing early blossoms in his orchard in the Happy Valley area.

John arendt/Black Press

Agriculture industry headed in positive direction


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May 06, 2015

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