NDIT launches Supply Chain Connector in Northern BC
The Northern Development Initiative Trust, in partnership with communities throughout northern B.C., has launched the Supply Chain Connector – an online procurement database that allows major industry, communities and government to quickly locate northern B.C.-based businesses to help them build major projects.
The connector means that more businesses and communities across the north can reap the benefits of major projects, generating new jobs and income for the region.
The Supply Chain Connector arrives amid a wave of more than $70 billion in major projects proposed across northern B.C. In the past, major project proponents have awarded contracts to companies based outside of the region because they’ve struggled to locate northern B.C.-based businesses to carry out the work. The Supply Chain Connector adds capacity to the region to solve that problem, making it quick and easy for project proponents to locate the local expertise they need to build the mines, mills and hospitals of tomorrow, which sets northern B.C. apart from other regions across B.C.
The Supply Chain Connector is a no-cost procurement database that allows industry to find industrial business partners in the north, and those business partners to advertise their expertise at no cost. The Supply Chain Connector will launch with a database of approximately 1,100 businesses across the region that major project proponents can immediately get in touch with.
The Supply Chain Connector builds on the previous success of northern B.C.’s regional investment portals (Invest Northwest BC, Invest North Central BC, Invest Northeast BC, Invest Cariboo-Chilcotin Coast BC), which have helped investors connect directly with communities about major investment opportunities throughout the region.
The Supply Chain Connector will be maintained by local economic development officers and businesses to ensure business information in the database stays current. Businesses are also encouraged to add and update their information to the database on an ongoing basis.
“The Supply Chain Connector will create immense value for businesses across northern B.C., which will help generate new jobs in the region,” said Evan Saugstad, Chair, Northern Development Initiative Trust. “It is tools like these that set northern B.C. on the path to success.”
“This is a one-of-a-kind tool in British Columbia,” said Renata King, Director, Business Development, Northern Development Initiative Trust. “The Supply Chain Connector is free to use, mobile-enabled and electronically searchable, helping northern B.C. businesses market themselves to procurement managers.”
“The launch of the Supply Chain Connector is a project that all northern B.C. communities will benefit from,” said District of Mackenzie Mayor and Northern Development Prince George Regional Advisory Committee Chair Stephanie Killam. “With this database major companies that have projects in the region will be able to quickly access contact information for local businesses. It is tools like these that will increase revenues and job creation in the north.”
“Northern Development Initiative Trust’s new Supply Chain Connector web portal is an exciting development for small business and industry within our region and northern BC,” said Cariboo Regional District (CRD) Chair Al Richmond. “The Cariboo Regional District supports this initiative and I am hopeful the site will also provide awareness about the developing markets and expertise within our region. This is what building communities together truly means.”
“Small business is the backbone of our economy, the lifeblood of communities, and the Supply Chain Connector will help small businesses in our region expand and take advantage of major projects,” said City of Fort St. John Mayor and Northern Development Director Lori Ackerman.
“The more information that we have out there to help our local contractors, the better off we all are and that means more business for the area,” said District of Port Edward Mayor and Northern Development Northwest Regional Advisory Committee Representative Dave MacDonald.
Any questions can be directed to Allan Stroet, Economic Development Officer for the Bulkley Valley Economic Development Association in Smithers.
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