Vancouver Island Meeting Growing Demand - George Hanson
The Vancouver Island Economic Alliance (VIEA) has been a strong and vocal advocate for production of goods on Vancouver Island including manufacturing plants, assembly plants, warehousing, distribution and more. They have seen a growing demand for industrial space on Vancouver Island and that ties directly to the importance of the Bevan industrial lands in the Village of Cumberland. “The lower mainland is congested and essentially out of industrial land,” said George Hanson, VIEA Former President. “The VIEA has been advocating for increasing production of goods on Vancouver Island for a long time.”
The VIEA ‘Island Good’ brand is specifically designed to raise the awareness of available local products. Increased local sales means more production, more investment, larger facilities and increase of jobs in our home towns.
The VIEA Economic Report first published in 2015, showed the Canadian economy profile as 70% services and 30% goods. The profile of Vancouver Island’s economy is 80% services and 20% goods. This ratio combined with the instability of the global supply chain due to the pandemic, makes it key to now produce goods locally.
Not only does it stabilize the economy, it protects the supply of essential goods vital for the population of Vancouver Island.
The great potential of the Island’s transportation infrastructure to move goods back and forth from here to the lower mainland opens up the possibilities for Vancouver Island businesses and industries to connect to the North American and world markets.
“If we have learned anything from the pandemic it’s how important it is that Vancouver Island not be 100% dependent on the rest of the world for the staples that we need,” explains Hanson.