The Creston Valley Kootenay Lake Economic Action Partnership (CV-KL EAP) is moving forward with projects to support local economic development in the region.
The Creston Valley Kootenay Lake Economic Action Partnership (CV-KL EAP) is a voluntary collaboration of the Town of Creston and Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) Electoral Areas A, B, and C. The strategic partnership will seek to address regional economic opportunities and challenges in a collaborative way.
In the spring of 2019, the partnership was awarded funding support through the Province of British Columbia’s Rural Dividend Program to implement the ‘Stronger Together – Creston Valley – Kootenay Lake Economic Action Strategy.’ The strategy’s vision of economic prosperity articulates a “thriving local economy that is inclusive, supports a high quality of life and builds on our strengths.”
The strategy targets work across several areas including regional tourism marketing initiatives; support to local small businesses; expansion of value-added market opportunities in agriculture; and resident attraction. Actions identified in the strategy were defined through an extensive community engagement process that took part in 2018.
The RDCK has hired Factor 5 Group to lead project work and to build capacity within the region in implementing local economic development projects. Eric Burton, CEO of Factor 5 Group, is an experienced leader and innovator in community economic development and brings widespread experience from working in rural communities across Western Canada.
Call for volunteer committee members
The CV-KL EAP is recruiting volunteer sector representatives for the Economic Action Partnership Advisory Committee. The role of advisory committee members is to build relationships between community members, communicate community needs, and share information related to economic issues/opportunities.
The committee is made up of the CV-KL local government partners, including representatives of RDCK Area A Economic Development Committee, the Yaqan Nukiy (Lower Kootenay Band) and five sector representatives.
Local residents with experience in the areas of tourism, forestry, agriculture, social sector or small business, and an interest in local economic development are encouraged to apply.
Interested volunteers are asked to submit a bio and a statement of interest by email to Stuart Horn, the Chief Administrative Officer of the RDCK, at shorn@rdck.bc.ca, by Nov. 28, 2019. To learn more visit www.rdck.ca/cvkl-eap.