Region wants federal office
Okanagan Edge Staff - Jan 19, 2021 - Biz Releases

File photo: Castanet
Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran

The Central Okanagan is campaigning hard to bring a Regional Development Agency office to the area.

The Regional District of Central Okanagan’s economic recovery task force has informed Mélanie Joly, the federal Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, that Kelowna is the prime location to install an RDA office.

“We want it here,” Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran said in a press release. “We’ve got all the pieces in place. The region’s industry and academia have the track record to prove we can make it successful. The task force is actively advocating to Minister Joly’s office that there is no other place in B.C. that is a better fit.”

The task force cited the Central Okanagan’s 15,000 businesses, the quickness with which the region is growing, and the collaboration among government industry and higher education as reasons for the federal government to consider Kelowna as a regional development hub.

“We’ve got great strength in our business community,” task force co-chair and RDCO board chair Gail Given said. “And while our region’s businesses continue to be supported through the immediate impact of the pandemic with existing resources, our planning has already started for economic recovery and growth.

“We want to see a Regional Development Agency office in our community, giving us an even greater opportunity for connection between Okanagan communities and the federal government.”

Other strengths, according to the task force, is Kelowna being anointed as a top entrepreneurial community by the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses, its proximity to the Lower Mainland and the country’s 10th busiest international airport.


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