SIBAC supports Invest Kootenay with a $15,000.00 grant
The Southern Interior Beetle Action Coalition (SIBAC) directors have voted in favour of supporting an application from the Community Futures Central Kootenay for $15,000 to complete a strategic plan for the Invest Kootenay Partnership initiative.
“The SIBAC Board viewed this application as an opportunity to support a project that will be beneficial to several communities in the Kootenay’s,” said SIBAC director Greg Lay (Regional District of Central Kootenay).
The Invest Kootenay initiative is an economic development tool that can assist communities affected by the Mountain Pine Beetle, by attracting investment to the Kootenay Boundary area.
SIBAC is one of three Beetle Action Coalitions in BC’s Interior created in 2005-2006 to develop and implement mitigation plans in order to help affected communities endure the impacts of the mountain pine beetle epidemic.
The funding is intended to support projects approved by the Beetle Action Coalitions that will create business partnerships, diversify local and regional economies, find innovative and value-added uses for forest resources and explore new industries to assist rural interior communities through this transition.