Written by Originally posted August 25 2010
Small Business Management Consultant
I had been preparing the foundation for my launch into the Small Business Management Consulting world. Most individuals who put themselves forward as a Management Consultant seem to be portrayed as wearing power suits, driving new expensive cars, holding educational degrees out the wazoo and being former CEOs of large companies. Myself, I wear slacks and a golf shirt while scooting around in my 2006 Dodge mini-van. Does that make me less valuable to any enterprise striving to become better at what they do? I don’t think so. It some ways, it would have made me more valuable, certainly from a practical standpoint.
Vancouver Island North
The geographical area that I will be presenting here is locally known as Vancouver Island North, or, perversely, North Vancouver Island. Vancouver Island is located off the west coast of mainland British Columbia, Canada, in the Pacific Ocean. Vancouver Island North is that part of the Island ranging from the Comox Valley up to Port Hardy, and includes the population gatherings of Comox Valley, Campbell River, Gold River, Sayward, Port McNeill, Port Alice and Port Hardy, plus many other tiny communities.
The Comox Valley itself can be broken down into Fanny Bay, Buckley Bay, Union Bay, Royston, Courtenay, Comox, Cumberland, Mount Washington, Merville, Black Creek and Oyster River, plus many other tiny communities. You can look all this up on Google Maps.
Courtenay is the center of the universe within the Comox Valley (much to the chagrin of the other communities) and that is where I am based. However, I had leaned towards focusing my attentions on the communities up-island, predominately Gold River, Port McNeill and Port Hardy. I believe they have tremendous potential, especially in the high-end tourism segment and small-scale manufacturing of up-market unique products that can be sold online and easily shipped worldwide. I hadn’t fleshed out the manufacturing idea in my mind yet, but the high-end tourism segment is something that I have been pondering for a couple of years now. First, let’s get a quick snapshot of each community (or group of communities) on the North Island so we can get a sense of what they are all about.
The Communities
Comox Valley
The Comox Valley is the regional centre of Vancouver Island North, being the seat of the largest Regional Government in the center Island and the location of the main hospital, the Air Force Base, an International Airport (YQQ), BC Ferry from the mainland (Powell River) and the regional retail/service center. Its’ economy is largely driven by government input (Hospital, Forces Base, Airport, Municipal/Regional Government), tourism, agriculture, retail/services, construction, the arts, forestry and fishing. Forestry and fishing used to be much higher on the economic scale, but have fallen dramatically over the decades. Rising stars are agriculture and the arts.
Campbell River
Campbell River has a much greater “industrial” tone to it than the rest of the North Island, being the home of the Elk Falls Paper Mill, the Quinsam Coal Mine and Myra Falls Mine, and having a largely forestry and mining economy. However, with the recent permanent closing of the Paper Mill and the general decline in the forestry industry, Campbell River is having tough times and is trying to reinvent itself. Tourism is becoming much more important .. billing itself as “The Salmon Fishing Capital Of The World” .. and it does have a fishing fleet, a harbour capable of handling medium size cruise ships and whale-watching excursions. The small airport is currently being expanded to allow the landing of jets, and with that expansion it is going to concentrate on becoming the air freight hub for the north Island.
Gold River
Following Highway 28 out of Campbell River to its’ end, you arrive in Gold River. This is a town that was purposely built during the 1960′s to provide housing and services for the people who would work at the Pulp Mill and the accompanying forestry industry. It was good while it lasted. However, the Pulp Mill closed forever and Gold River fell on hard times. It is currently trying to establish an energy-from-waste plant on the site of the former mill, with 93% of the people in Gold River supporting the initiative. Unfortunately, I would guess that 93% of the rest of the Island population is against such an endeavor, so it’s going to be an uphill fight for little Gold River. Having said that, Gold River has amazing potential on the tourism side. It is the gateway to the incredibly beautiful Nootka Sound and the rest of the coast on the west side of the Island. It has fishing (ocean, lake, river), boating/kayaking, caving (spelunking), hiking, biking, wildlife viewing, camping and just an overabundance of nature.
Port McNeill
One can’t mention Port McNeill without also including Robson Bight, Telegraph Cove, Alert Bay, Sointula and the Broughton Archipelago. It’s quite obvious that the main economic driver is tourism, led by sport fishing and wildlife expeditions by boat. However, forestry and retail/service play an important part to the local economy as well. Ultimately though, it is a boaters’ paradise and a fishermans’ dream .. those are the main draws.
Port Hardy
The end of the road on the top end of the Island. Gateway to the wild ‘n woolly Cape Scott Provincial Park, Cape Scott Trail, Queen Charlotte Sound and the BC Ferry ship for the 15 hour voyage up the coast to Prince Rupert. As in other places, logging and mining have declined, and Port Hardy is looking to tourism to fill the gap. There are a lot of attractions, including camping, fishing, diving, whale-watching, hiking, backpacking, boating, kayaking or just sitting on the seashore contemplating life.
Final Thoughts
All the communities on North Vancouver Island have key attributes that should be drawing tourists by the plane-load from all over the world. The natural beauty, the wide variety of activities, the very freshness of everything, would be enjoyed immensely by almost every visitor who steps foot on the Island. There should be large charter jets landing daily at the Comox Valley International Airport (which is fully capable of handing them), disgorging passengers from around the world, transporting them to the many hotels, resorts and camps throughout the north Island, and watching them stare in awe, mouths agape, at the incredible natural beauty of North Vancouver Island. Instead of standing around wondering why this isn’t happening now, let’s follow the empowering lead of the Captains of the Starship Enterprise and say … “Make it so!”
R
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