Those on the ground in northwest British Columbia spare no hyperbole when discussing the economic possibilities currently hovering over the region. Generational. Explosive. Boom.
And with more than a dozen large-scale projects proposed or underway in Kitimat and Prince Rupert, such adjectives aren't just over-excited exaggerations. Both towns are already busy. And they will swell if more projects, particularly those in the liquefied natural gas sector, are approved.
Terrace, B.C., however, tells a different tale. There are no liquefied natural gas export facilities, no port expansions and no pipelines planned. The growth Terrace foresees isn't based on staggering, multibillion-dollar energy developments. Its prospects are grounded in service.
There are successful – and growing – First Nations businesses and a recently reborn sawmill boosting the local economy and providing much-needed jobs. But the Terrace story, the future it's sketching for itself, starts with an ambitious project that's been talked about for a decade. The Terrace story starts in an empty, partially cleared field on the side of Highway 37.
'Unhindered new development'
"It could be anything," said Terrace mayor Dave Pernarowski, surveying the Skeena Industrial Development Park, his feet scuffling the dirt.
"It could be an extension of what Terrace is – servicing this region."
These are early days for the Skeena Industrial Development Park, a large plot straddling Highway 37, just south of the Northwest Regional Airport. The land sits empty, only 165 of its 2,000 acres cleared. The road through the industrial park is only partially paved.
But that will change, Pernarowski said. The plan is to fill this land. Power plants, warehouses, factories, mills – all are welcome. Even retail outlets are being considered. Brochures for the site bill it as ready for "unhindered new development."
With development come social pressures. Pernarowski said Terrace will feel the effects of increased traffic travelling in and out of Kitimat, only a 45-minute drive south along Highway 37. Nearly 25% of Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) Alcan employees, for instance, live in Terrace. As industrial development grows there, more will call Terrace home. So, too, will those working for the companies that fill the industrial park.
This is a long-term move for Terrace, Pernarowski stressed. The businesses that build on this land he hopes will be there for years. And they have to be ready.
To brace for that expected influx, Terrace municipal council launched a housing action plan in 2012 to investigate a sweeping set of issues such as potential infill developments, redrawing residential lot sizes, encouraging new residential development downtown and permitting secondary suites "to improve opportunities for affordable rental units."
The action plan will also consider how to create more low-income housing, seniors housing and how to upgrade aging housing stock.
"This will help us understand what our needs are – prices, availability. We have have a high demand for seniors housing and people with disabilities," said Pernarowski.
"So we're looking to attract real estate investment. Apartments, condos, multi-family developments in pockets all around the city."
Local native enterprise boom
Jim Dopson, general manager of the Kitselas Development Limited Partnership (KDLP) , an organization formed by the Kitselas First Nation to manage its numerous business interests, didn't grow up in Terrace. In fact, he's relatively new to town.
Dopson is a native of Prince Rupert. But was forced to move, in search of work. He's lived the ups and downs the region has endured. He's lived the hardships.
"There wasn't anything for me there," said Dopson.
"I had no choice but to leave."
These days, however, Dopson is a busy man. There's no wanting for work, nor enough hours in the day. The KDLP has an active forestry company with more than 200 employees, is a partner in the Skeena Industrial Development Park with the city and is considering building a 200-person camp to house incoming workers.
Kitselas Development is also mulling a high-end RV park and an eco-tourism project, both aimed at attracting travelers to the area.
"I've never seen anything like this. It's incredible to see all of this unfolding," said Dopson.
"But the most amazing part is the support of the people. People want success. You are starting to see it in Terrace, you are starting to see it in Prince Rupert."
A similar economic resurgence is happening across town with the Kitsumkalum First Nation.
The Kitsumkalum have built a quarry that provides rock to CN Rail, a 110-acre industrial park being rented by Valard (the powerline company contracted to build the Northwest Transmission Line) and a sand and gravel pit that supplies local cement company Terrace Redi-Mix.
"When we got into the rock business we figured we should get into the sand and gravel business," said Terry Bennett, community economic development officer with Kitsumkalum Development, the development arm of the Kitsumkalum nation.
"So we did."
And the benefits are already being enjoyed. The Kitsumkalum First Nation has added 18 new homes to its reserve in the past two years and a new health-care facility, also on reserve land.
"There are lots of good things happening in this community," said Kitsumkalum chief Don Roberts, sipping a cup of coffee.
"Thirty years ago, we were just a hand-in-mouth operation for the Department of Indian Affairs."
A cut above, again
Before Teddy Cui bought the shuttered West Fraser Skeena Sawmill from longtime owners West Fraser Mills Ltd. (TSX:WFT) in 2011, he didn't know how much the mill meant to Terrace.
But once his company, Roc Holdings, took over the mill, now called Skeena Sawmills, and invested $6 million to reopen it, he started to hear about its storied past.
"After the purchase, some of the employees told me the history," said Cui quietly.
"I know it's one of the only ones left in the area."
Historically, the mill produced between 92 million and 95 million board feet of lumber per year and employed about 80 people, said Gian Sandhu, a consultant hired by Roc Holdings to help restart the mill. This year, production is expected to hit 100 million board feet. At present, Skeena Sawmills employs 151 people, including loggers, and runs one shift per day.
That increase can be attributed to a change in markets. In the past, the mill produced lumber for North America. Today, nearly all of its lumber is shipped overseas to Asia, via the Port of Prince Rupert. Cui's family owns Shandong Riguang Group, a Chinese conglomerate with interests in real estate and other businesses that has provided the access to the Asian market.
But while the destination of the lumber might have changed, the sentiments of the community have not. The reopened mill has put people back to work and reminded others of a Terrace they thought might have disappeared.
"Do we hear the appreciation? You better believe it," said Sandhu.
"We hear it from municipal politicians. I had a local dentist tell me he drives past the mill just to smell the wood."
'You don't see these mountains sitting inside'
On this humid mid-September evening, with only the pink haze of a distant sun colouring a vast northern sky, John Doncaster ambles on to the tarmac at the Northwest Regional Airport in Terrace to board a flight bound for Vancouver.
With a green duffel bag slung on his back and a camouflage cap perched atop his salt-and-pepper hair, Doncaster is starting the long trip home to Timber River, New Brunswick, a tiny town located just off the Trans-Canada Highway, about 20 minutes west of the Confederation Bridge.
It's been six weeks since he shipped off to a camp in the Nass Valley to work for powerline contractor Valard on the Northwest Transmission Line. His plan, initially, was to stay for three weeks before getting a week off to go back east and visit his wife and daughter. The typical schedule is 21 days on and seven off, he says.
But things changed not long after he arrived in camp. There were more shifts to be had – and Doncaster never turns down a shift.
"I'm the guy that'll do anything, spur of the moment," said Doncaster, shrugging his shoulders, his rough hands opening a package of complimentary pretzels.
"I'm not joking. I just get on a plane and go. I'll be back out here next week."
That spontaneous nature has governed Doncaster's adult years. As a young man, he left New Brunswick to work the rigs in Alberta. When he moved back home, he worked as a lobster fisherman. And a carpenter. And a truck driver. After the ice storm of 1998 wreaked havoc in southern Quebec, he spent three weeks in the province rebuilding powerlines. He did the same in Florida after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the state in 2005.
It's been a full life, to be sure. But Doncaster isn't done yet. The chance to just "up and go" is too appealing.
"I've had a lot of jobs," he said, turning toward his window on the plane. "I like to meet people. You get an outlook on life. If you don't go, you don't learn. That's how I've lived my life.
"You don't see these mountains sitting inside," he added.
If the projects planned for the region proceed, many more like Doncaster will soon see those mountains too. •
With Business in Vancouver files
Major Terrace-area projects
- Skeena Industrial Development Park: a joint venture between the City of Terrace and the Kitselas First Nation. The Skeena Industrial Development Park is a 2,000-acre greenfield site earmarked "for heavy industrial development." The park is located adjacent to Highway 37, nine kilometres from a CN Rail line, six kilometres from the Skeena River and 150 kilometres east of the Port of Prince Rupert.
- Dasque Hydroelectric Cluster: a $60 million, 20-megawatt run-of-river project located 20 kilometres west of Terrace, on the Dasque and Middle creeks. Project designs include the construction of two turbines, one on both Dasque and Middle creeks, as well as a powerhouse. A new powerline will connect the project's powerhouse to the Skeena Substation, which is owned by BC Hydro. The development has, however, been mired in financial trouble. The Terrace Standard reported in March that a financial dispute between contractor Dowland Contracting Ltd. and Veresen Inc. (TSX:VSN), owner of the project, has resulted in Dowland pulling workers off the job.
- Northwest Transmission Line: a $736 million to $746 million, 287-volt transmission line that will run 344 kilometres from the Skeena Substation near Terrace to Bob Quinn Lake. The Northwest Transmission line is being built to open up industrial development, primarily mining, in the Highway 37 corridor. Completion of the project is expected in spring 2014.
