Prince George is Nailing It

Business is building in Prince George – not only momentum but actual structures.

In the Growth and Development supplement published by the Prince George Citizen in May 2019, Frank Peebles wrote an article about Prince George growth and planned construction improvements coming up in 2019.

Terri McConnachie, executive officer for the Canadian Home Builder’s Association, described this year’s construction season as “hair straight back” for the region’s builders, designers and tradespeople. Melissa Barcellos, the economic development manager for the City of Prince George said inside city boundaries it was another stellar year for building permits and new construction. The majority of the new constructions is private sector investment which shows the confidence that local businesses have in Prince George. In the recently released Business Insights Report that polls local entrepreneurs about their businesses, 87% named Prince George as either good or excellent as a place to do business. The report showed that 2/3rds of companies surveyed were anticipating their sales would increase over the new year with 76% indicating the market for their product or service was definitely increasing.  One third of the businesses had plans to expand over the next 3 years and were looking for a new larger location to accomplish these goals.

One of the challenges in Prince George is not enough warehouse space. There is adequate affordable land available to develop for this purpose and the city believes there will be an uptick in construction of these types of spaces.

One of the biggest challenges facing business is lack of skilled labor which means businesses will need to be creative and highlight the benefits of living and working in Prince George.