ACTION DEMANDED | Enderby council wants derelict building demolished [A6]
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Wednesday, May 8, 2013
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Target draws a crowd yet,” said Lil Walker. About $10 million was spent to redevelop the There was a steady flow of foot traffic as former Zellers space. Vernon residents checked out the new retailer on Target will provide the Village Green Centre the block. with another major anchor tenant. Target unveiled its “It’s absolutely fabulous,” 103,000-square-foot outlet said Scott Adam, mall manat the Village Green Centre ager. as part of a soft opening “It brings a prominent Tuesday. retailer to the Village Green “I’ve been looking forCentre. They expect big ward to it,” said Marsha things from this market.” White, as she carried a few With Vernon drawbags out of the store. ing consumers from the — Annette Perreault “I have seen it in the North Okanagan, Shuswap, States and it’s my daughter’s Revelstoke and the Arrow favourite store.” Lakes, Adam believes the Anticipation has been building since Target addition of Target could have a major economic Corporation acquired the leases of 220 Zellers boost for the community. across the country in 2011. “This is the first opening of Target in the “I called all of my family to tell them that it’s Okanagan so we expect to see some visits early on opening,” said Annette Perreault before walking from Kelowna,” he said. inside. The official grand opening of the Vernon “We’ve been waiting and watching and won- Target will be in three weeks. dering when it was opening.” A total of 22 Target locations opened in Western Mary Andersen was impressed with the store, Canada Tuesday and there will be two May 14. which includes a Starbucks. “Target is thrilled to be opening stores in “It’s a nice clean store and everything is very Western Canada, providing a one-stop shopping open (design),” she said. destination that meets the wants and needs of our Others are needing more time to explore the guests,” said Tony Fisher, Target Canada president. 63,000-square-feet in shopping space. Target will open 124 stores across Canada in “I think it’s very nice but I have not seen it all 2013. RICHARD ROLKE
Morning Star Staff
“We’ve been waiting and watching and wondering when it was opening.”
JENNIFER SMITH/ MORNING STAR
Annette Perreault and daughter Taleah are some of the first customers to enter the new Target at the Village Green Centre Tuesday.
Report indicates economic slowdown in Vernon Vernon’s economy appears to be receding in comparison to other B.C. communities. A new Conference Board of Canada report looks at how mid-sized cities across the country are recovering from the recession, and it indicates that Vernon’s economy has contracted for Rob Sawatzky five consecutive years. “It’s consistent with the feeling many people have in the community,” said Mayor Rob Sawatzky. “It’s not what any of us want to hear and we need to work hard to make ourselves attractive to business.” According to the Conference Board of Canada, Vernon’s total gross domestic product went from $2.1 million in 2005 to $1.5 million
in 2012. It also states Vernon’s total jobs declined from 31,300 in 2005 to 19,000 in 2012. In comparison, the report says Prince George’s economy has grown by five per cent a year since 2010, while GDP has jumped an average of 6.2 per cent in Chilliwack. Kamloops has experienced employment growth as has Courtenay and Nanaimo. Kevin Poole, Vernon’s economic development manager, questions the federal and provincial statistics the Conference Board has used, saying that the sample size for Vernon is fairly small. “One of the key challenges we’ve had is that the survey size for the Canadian Labour Force Survey in our area is too small and has skewed our numbers to the point where in my opinion they are not usable.” He also questions B.C. Stats labour force data. “This states that almost 40 per cent of our
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population over 15 has left during this same period. The data set is statistically impossible as it means we had minus 5,621 people under 15 years of age in 2007 and now have over 20,834 under 15 in order for it to correspond with the population projections.” He also wonders if the report factors activity in Spallumcheen and Lumby. “If you look at the industrial base, it’s in those communities.” But Poole says the report is worth considering and alternatives for stimulating the economy must be considered given that Vernon is not dependent on natural resources like Prince George and Kamloops. “There is an opportunity around technology and health and wellness because we’re a lifestyle community,” he said. “We also want to support the manufacturing that is already here.” Sawatzky says there is a need to provide the recreational and social amenities new resi-
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dents and investors want. “Does your community have parks and hospitals that make the community attractive,” he said. “We have fallen behind other communities. We don’t have a twin-sheet arena and a track (there should be one by 2014).” Sawatzky says that other focuses for investors are transportation networks, like airports, post-secondary education and Internet access. In terms of taxes, Sawatzky says Vernon is competitive with other B.C. cities. “We can’t give tax holidays as they can in the U.S. and that has caused all kinds of headaches in the U.S. (municipal bankruptcies).” George Duffy, Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce manager, is not pleased with the results of the Conference Board report. “It’s one of the reasons we’ve been advocating for the city to take on economic development,” he said. “We’ve also initiated relocation packages to help attract business here.”
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