A group of Yellowknife businesses spent Friday touring Hay River industrial sites and discussing economic development with their counterparts from the South Slave town.
The trip, described as a trade mission, had been billed as an opportunity to strengthen collaboration between the communities over coming federal investment.
Yellowknife and Inuvik are each in line to receive defence spending worth $5 billion or more over the next 15 years, money Hay River businesses are keen to share in. Other major projects in the region, like new highways, are expected to generate more work in the next decade.
Organizers of the trip – the two municipalities and their chambers of commerce – said participants discussed “how communities and businesses can work together to maximize economic benefits, build local capacity, strengthen northern supply chains, and ensure northern companies are well positioned to participate in future investments.”
Groups toured Hay River’s airport, its barging hub, housing firm MetCan, the Cando rail terminal in nearby Enterprise and Aurora Manufacturing.
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“This trade mission provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the remarkable businesses and infrastructure that support our economy while strengthening relationships with our partners in Yellowknife,” Hay River Mayor Kandis Jameson was quoted as saying in a Friday evening news release.
“Working together will help ensure our communities are ready to capture the opportunities that lie ahead.”
The Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce did not answer a request to clarify the number of businesses that took part in the trip. About 60 people, including both Yellowknife and Hay River representatives, appeared in an image published by organizers from the day’s activities.
“Economic success is strongest when communities work together,” the chamber’s president, Mark Henry, was quoted as saying.
