Central and northern British Columbia is excelling in leveraging the Northern Development Initiative Trust to innovate and drive the economy during the Northern decade, according to an update from the board.
To date, $100 million has been committed by Northern Development Initiative Trust (NDIT) into 803 projects totalling over $1 billion in investments in central and northern B.C.
The investments were "made by northerners, for northerners," according to the NDIT board, adding the funds have flowed into projects where communities, First Nations and businesses are taking leadership in growing jobs, revenues and quality of life.
"We are extremely proud of the strategic impact Northern Development investment in communities and industry has had on central and northern B.C.'s economy," stated board chair Evan Saugstad.
"Reaching $1 billion in investments leveraged in this region in 2011 is a major milestone for the Northern Development Initiative Trust board. This milestone has been achieved much sooner than the strategic plan originally targetted, and the board is now focused on attracting over $2 billion in investment to the region by 2015."
A $250,000 partnership agreement with the New Relationship Trust is enabling a grant writing support program to expand across the breadth of the province into numerous First Nations communities.
In 2010, grant writers in 69 B.C. communities (of which 43 are First Nations) collectively wrote funding applications for community and not-for-profit needs of $64.3 million.
To date, $15 million has been approved with $30 million awaiting funding decisions from various funders and levels of government, according to a NDIT news release.
"The result of the program is that communities have dramatically increased their capacity to shake the money tree and derive more dollars to meeting local economic and social needs," it states.
Community capacity was also dramatically impacted in 2010 by the internship program that successfully placed university graduates from rural communities into the rewarding work of community economic development and local government.
It was such a great experience for NDIT and rural communities that the internship program has been expanded. In 2011, the program will be expected to turn out four highly polished northern university graduates following their six month internship.
Another success occurred in the manufacturing, businesses and resource sector as suppliers increased by 40 per cent their use of Northern Development's competitiveness consulting rebate program in 2010.
Companies accessed the program to help fine tune their productivity. Northern Development helped level the playing field for access to strong business consulting expertise by offering 50 per cent rebates, states the release.
"Business creates jobs, and communities create quality of life as well as the right business environment."
