Close to 300 people packed the high school gymnasium in Oliver last week looking to meet with officials with Plenary Justice, the contracting company that was recently awarded the rich contract to build the new South Okanagan Correctional Centre. The South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce organized the meeting, which was very well received by those who attended. (Lyonel Doherty photo)
Nearly 300 people packed the Oliver high school gymnasium last week for a piece of the Okanagan Correctional Centre pie.
Companies from Summerland to Osoyoos had their chance to put their best foot forward, but they only had four minutes to do it.
Bonnie Dancey, who helped organize the event for the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce, said 180 companies had individual meetings with members of the Plenary Justice (prison development) team.
Dancey said everyone who attended looked very happy when they left the meeting.
Holly Plante, past president of the chamber, said the meeting was fabulous.
“We had close to 200 people sign our business registry and about 250 businesses attended,” she said.
Each of the four organizations under the Plenary Justice team (including PCL and Honeywell) had a table set up. People/businesses formed four different lines and then Toastmasters timed each business giving them four minutes to make their pitch. Many businesses provided USB sticks with their resumes, marketing materials, etc.
“It was an awesome event and very well received by local businesses. Plenary Justice, Corrections BC, and Partnerships BC were also blown away by the outstanding venue at the SOSS gymnasium. Normally they expect around 80 people max to these events, but to have 250 blew them away! They were so impressed.”
Plante said the chamber will likely partner with Partnerships BC and Corrections BC again to work with Plenary Justice on having a job fair.
“They made it very apparent they have a big need for good tradespeople.”
Dan Wurst from Plenary Group said the turnout was great, which he credits to the chamber, the Southern Interior Construction Association and the province.
Wurst said the diverse group of people and businesses they met from the valley were very impressive.
“Leveraging local knowledge and know-how is so important to successfully deliver a project of this size and complexity,” he said. “The business-to-business session was an important first step in engaging the local market and it went very well.”
Karen Amos of Amos Realty said she believed the session was very successful, noting that everyone there wholeheartedly supported the concept.
“Everyone was upbeat . . . there was not a negative person or word there.”
Amos was there to promote her real estate firm, particularly the property management division and their new rental clearinghouse service.
Amos said many short-term and long-term rental accommodation will be needed in relation to the correctional centre development.
Amos said she and husband Brian were lucky; they sat in the front and rushed to the table when the time came to make their pitch. They were seventh in line.
Amos said it felt a little bit like an audition for a part, but the groups were just there to listen to businesses, not interview them.
Karen and Brian made good use of their minutes and handed over a memory stick with their full presentation on it.
Karen said she was given the impression that the development groups will be partial to using local businesses.
As far as the prison itself, Karen totally supports the concept.
“It’s green, it doesn’t hurt anyone, and breakouts will be highly unlikely.”
Karen said if anyone does escape, he won’t be stopping in Oliver for coffee.
Paul Eby from OK Photo attended the meeting, which he said was well organized. He admitted that he wasn’t sure how his business would be received.
“I left with the feeling not sure how it went. I really didn’t know what to expect, but you can’t turn down an opportunity like this.”
Eby is hoping the correctional centre development could benefit from his photographic or blueprint services.
John Smeltzer from Agi-Pacific sat in the front row and was third in line for his presentation.
He said it was a great opportunity for tradespeople to sell themselves.
“If you get your foot in the door, it could lead to good things . . . If I can get a crumb, I’ll be happy about that.”
He only had four minutes, but Smeltzer got his point across about his services, which include excavating, demolition and landscaping.
“I’m not a big contractor. I’m a small company that has worked on some big commercial projects.”
LYONEL DOHERTY
Special to the Times
