IPG Selling City At Economic Summit

Tuesday, July 20, 2010 11:16 AM

Calgary, Alberta -- The CEO of Initiatives Prince George wants energy producers to put our city at the top of the list for any expansion plans to B.C..

Tim McEwan is attending the Pacific Northwest Economic Region Summit in Calgary and has spent the past several days meeting with a number of energy industry association representatives, reps from regional economic development agencies, and members of local and national media. He met this morning with officials from the Calgary Region Economic Partnership, the Canadian Pipeline Association, and the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute.

McEwan says his message is simple, that Prince George is a preferred place to invest, work, and live. "We're actively selling the KPMG study results that show that Prince George is the number one city for cost-competitiveness amongst 13 cities in the U.S. and Canadian Pacific Northwest."

He says, "From the perspective of commercial industrial development, land costs are about one-tenth of what they are in the Lower Mainland." And McEwan says with costs escalating in Alberta's urban centres, Calgary and Edmonton, he wants Prince George to be very visible on the radar, as business looks for other places to invest.

The IPG head says potential 'suitors' are seizing upon the city's affordability and he's working to round out that picture, touting it's 'hub city' status. "It's a health-care hub, an education hub, a transportation hub, a retail services supply hub and a great place to work."

McEwan points to the recent re-announcement of the Terasen call centre as validation Prince George is now seen as having the technical and intellectual infrastructure to back up these types of investment.

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Posted on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 11:16 AM in News by Michelle Cyr-Whiting

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Comments

Posted by: He spoke on July 20 2010 1:07 PM

Go for it Tim, Bring new industry into our city.

Posted by: Palopu on July 20 2010 1:11 PM

Balderdash:

Posted by: BCRacer on July 20 2010 5:52 PM

selling or selling out?
what do I want the chance of oils spills here for?
we got enough problems with the polution and CN RAil....

Posted by: Jim13135 on July 20 2010 8:24 PM

A health care hub?? LOL they told me it would take three months to get an ultra sound done in PG..so had to drive to Quesnel in February...health care hub for sure!!!
Education hub?? My goodness pick a subdivision or community that hasn't seen closures in schools!! Great way to attract big business to town for sure....

Well OK, our property is cheap...it's called devalued properties due to having schools closed, too many bad air days, and a lack of employment opportunities for our youth.

Posted by: He spoke on July 20 2010 9:19 PM

Hey Jim, you can always leave. In fact we would not mind at all if you leave.

You see, of the 80,000 people that call PG home, I would sy 50,000 has lived here more than 10 years, and of this, over 30,000 have lived here more than 20 years and love the place.

So if you don't like it, stop your whining and just leave.

Posted by: BCRacer on July 21 2010 4:41 AM

Sorry HeSpoke...but I have been here 40 years and Jim actually has some valid points..
This city has some good and some bad points about it...he brought out a few of the bad.

I suppose I could say to you , and not meant to be nasty, you could leave if you don't like people punning our fair city.....but we know that isn't a fair statement to make so have a good day and enjoy what you like of this place.

Posted by: Retired on July 21 2010 10:29 AM

Palopu, you have a way with words.
Cheers

Posted by: Harbinger on July 21 2010 4:00 PM

Energy producers to please come to PG? Is that energy from burning anything? Geothermal would be nice. Nuclear reactor next to the Nechako? Coal fired or natural gas fired turbines? How about some coal burners? Aaaah, coal. A car wash owners heaven.