The City of Prince George will be loaning the Canada Winter Games 2015 Host Society $100,000 to cover start-up costs.
City council approved the loan on Monday, as well providing the host society with temporary administrative support until the society is able to hire its own full-time staff.
Host society chairperson Anthony Everett said the loan will allow the society to start the process of recruiting a CEO and open an office.
"We're just trying to open our doors. We don't even have a bank account right now," Everett said. "As a host society we're starting to operate now."
The loan will be repaid once the host society receives its operating grants from the provincial and federal government, Everett said.
The provincial and federal governments are expected to contribute a total of $16 million for the games operations.
"Those talks are ongoing. I have some meetings in mid-April in Victoria to discuss exactly that," he said. "I think it's all going to happen, and happen very quickly. My understanding is the provincial contribution [will come] first, then the federal. I'm not in the least concerned about it."
By mid-April the host society also hopes to have a recruiting firm in place to search for a CEO, he said. That CEO won't be Vancouver Olympic organizer John Furlong, he added.
"We asked him and no, he's moved on to other things," Everett said. "We met with him before we actually formed as a host society. And he's coming back and meeting with us when we get to our visioning and planning."
Furlong is a former City of Prince George employee and his son lives in the city.
