City hall is redirecting its focus on the revitalization of downtown Kelowna and Rutland. Several years ago, the city established 10-year revitalization tax exemptions in three downtown zones and Rutland to encourage development with municipal tax breaks. City planner Ross Soward told council Monday one of the areas in downtown Kelowna has reached its cap […]

A local social enterprise company has challenged the city’s youth to step up and become changemakers in their community. Volinspire, a volunteer-based social media platform that started in Kelowna, put out the call to action, and is backing its challenge with cold, hard cash. With its #WEareKelowna photo contest, the company is asking young people […]

The Okanagan’s social entrepreneurs will soon get a chance to shine, when Okanagan Changemakers brings back its ChangeUp pitch competition later this year. The third annual pitch night will see entrepreneurs with a passion for social change show off their ideas for tackling some of the community’s most difficult challenges. This will the the competition’s […]

City councillors voted in favour of the first and second reading for a local tax proposed for storefronts on the 300 block of Main Street, Tuesday night. Property owners are collectively being asked to contribute $298,960, over a 20-year payback period, for what would be the next phase of the downtown revitalization project. The first phase was completed […]

Skaha Bluffs Provincial Park may grow by about 150 acres if a proposed expansion of City of Penticton limits moves forward. City council directed staff Tuesday to get the ball rolling on obtaining residents approval for the Skaha Bluffs annexation, about 300 acres of property east of the north end of Skaha Lake. The property […]

Enderby city council has approved a bylaw regulating where marijuana dispensaries and related businesses can and cannot be situated, in the event the drug is approved for sale by the federal government. “We are just trying to ensure there are rules in place so that if people show up and want to start a business, […]

A newly opened Kelowna franchise hopes to help parents recycle the clothes their children continuously sprout out of, and find new ones to keep their ever-growing limbs covered. OutGROW OutPLAY began in Ottawa, when Cas and Richard Robinson were looking for ways to keep their growing boys clothed. None of the traditional options worked for […]

A new executive director has stepped in at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre. Vernon local Jim Harding has come home to kick off the 2017/2018 season, bringing a mix of theatre knowledge and executive chops to the centre. Harding returns to Vernon after a 13-year run as the big cheese at Theatre BC, followed […]

A new, “transmedia” web series from Kelowna’s Saturn Animation Studios is now a go, after the Canada Media Fund announced financial support for the  project. The Condor is an animated series for children about the adventures of a passionate Colombian condor and a hard-working Canadian beaver. Saturn Animation Studios is producing the project, along with […]

Thirty-two Downtown Kelowna restaurants will be handing out free food and wine this Saturday, as the seventh annual Taste of Downtown Kelowna comes to the city. Presented by the Downtown Kelowna Association, the event is part culinary showcase, part scavenger hunt and part fundraiser. Visitors and locals alike get the chance to experience a number […]

The city of West Kelowna should focus on growing local businesses instead attracting new ones; weigh the impacts of new projects on businesses more heavily; and set up social media channels specifically to talk to businesses. Those are just a few of the strategic priorities laid out in a new economic development plan West Kelowna […]

Vernon councillor Dalvir Nahal has expressed concern over the explosion in marijuana dispensaries and related businesses. While pot shops have been open in Vernon for the past three years, many more have opened over the past 18 months, including in the downtown core and even at strip malls. “It seems like they have doubled or […]

Some on Kelowna city council voiced concerns Monday over the possible traffic impact of a new hotel proposed for the intersection of Spall Road and Enterprise Way. A traffic study of the area requested by the city and Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure showed the corridor, including Highway 97, already at capacity. Some on council […]

A full house is expected at city council chambers for a controversial rezoning application Tuesday evening. The public hearing will determine whether a piece of property at the corner of McCurdy and Rutland Road is appropriate for a four storey apartment building. The apartment, if approved, would house a 49-unit supportive housing development for graduates of the […]

Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery is looking for some branding, and it’s calling out to the world for help. The Kelowna distillery is inviting designers to submit designs for a new logo for its Craft Distillery Mixoff, and trying to entice them with prizes. The company says its looking for “creative, innovative and professional logo design […]

More than a dozen B.C. colleges and universities will come together next month for a free post-secondary information night in Kelowna. The event, hosted by PSI-BC, aims to give local high school students and their parents a better understanding of the provincial post-secondary system, by giving them face time with representatives from the province’s post-secondary […]

Most business owners in the Okanagan anticipate they will be affected by a federal government proposal that would change the way corporations are taxed. This, according to Kelowna Chamber of Commerce President Tom Dyas, is further evidence that small businesses owners will bear the brunt of changes the federal government says are aimed at wealthy […]

The Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce has a new membership and marketing coordinator. Dan Proulx, who served as the chamber’s membership and events coordinator in 2015, will take on the role, assisting and recruiting new members and working with current members of marketing and promotions. Proulx takes over for Jamie Morrow, who worked as the […]

The Forest Green Man Lavender Farm in Naramata will cease operations after the Thanksgiving weekend. Owners Doug Mathias and Karolina Born-Tschuemperlin announced the news online that they had sold their farm. “The new owners will keep the land as is, but will no longer farm lavender like we did,” the owners announced on MyNaramata. There had been rumours of […]

A proposed new hotel and mixed-use commercial-residential complex comes before city council Monday. As Castanet News first reported in January, Kelowna East Investments Ltd. is seeking to develop a vacant piece of property on Enterprise Way next to Spall Road for what would be a six-storey Hyatt Hotel. Next to the hotel, a proposed six storey building […]

Nine professional wine judges and one apprentice wine judge are tasked with sampling nearly 600 wines collectively this weekend, ahead of the B.C. Wine Awards on Sept. 28. The judging is taking place from Sept. 15 to 17 at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre. Of the 10 judges involved, one comes from the Similkameen […]

The provincial government is giving a boost to Okanagan tourism in the wake of a summer season muted by floods and forest fires. The province announced Thursday it is providing the Thompson-Okanagan Tourism Association and Kootenay Rockies Tourism Association with $200,000 each to help with industry impacts from the wildfires. Destination BC has worked with […]

Okanagan Edge This Week is our look back at everything that happened in business in the region over the last seven days. Local business news Bargain Shop building sold Mission Group bought the former home of The Bargain Shop on Bernard Avenue in Kelowna, which has sat empty since 2010. Millions for casino makeover The millions of dollars […]

Two Kelowna organizations took home hardware from the Startup Canada’s B.C awards Sept. 15. Startup Canada is a “grassroots network of entrepreneurs” working to help entrepreneurship in Canada thrive. Its annual awards celebrate “those driving impact and demonstrating excellence” across the country. This year, the B.C. awards were held in Kamloops, and hosted by Kamloops […]

Yesterday, a throng of people playing Disney dress up descended on downtown Kelowna. They had donned costumes as part of a quirky work event, but, as prime dress up season draws closer, more and more people will start shopping for Halloween ensembles. Many of them will turn to one of the costume stores that appear in […]

Kelowna is creeping toward a place among the Top 5 most expensive cities in Canada for renters. According to the PadMapper Canadian Rent Report, the city is now the sixth most expensive in Canada for renters, with the average one-bedroom apartment renting for $1,100 a month. The new benchmark represents at 3.8 per cent increase […]

Blistering growth at a trio of Kelowna startups has landed all three businesses among some very exclusive company. Kelowna-based Strawhouse, 5 Point Operations, and Refresh Financial were recognized yesterday as some of the fastest-growing companies in Canada, when they were named to the STARTUP 50 list. The list lays out the 50 fastest-growing startups in […]

This year, Okanagan Edge and the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce have partnered to showcase some of the Okanagan’s most exciting entrepreneurs, through the Top 40 Under 40 program. Sponsored by BDO, the Top 40 Under 40 recognizes innovative young professionals in our community, and showcases their accomplishments. Okanagan Edge will feature a new honouree each week, so […]

Greyhound Canada has applied to the B.C. Passenger Transportation Board to pull all operations out of the Similkameen Valley. The bus service is looking to eliminate stops in Princeton, Keremeos, Hedley, Eastgate and Manning Park by rerouting the Vancouver to Osoyoos route through Kelowna and Penticton. That route, along with routes between Alberta and Vancouver, […]

The Penticton Lakeside Resort has announced its plans to build a convention centre in an area of the property which once hosted a casino. The project is under construction, and once completed will have 15,000 square feet of floor space, as well as a 2,000-square-foot, wrap-around patio. Brannigan Mosses, the resort’s director of sales and marketing, […]