New funding for six wood-product manufacturers and two fabricated-metal manufacturers will create and protect hundreds of resource-sector jobs for people and strengthen B.C.’s value-added wood sector and local economies.

The Government of British Columbia is celebrating a major investment in a Prince George forestry manufacturing facility by Sumitomo Corporation.

Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour Shirley Bond, announced $20,000 in funding for the “Creative Corner,” a new addition that focuses on skilled trades and career development at this year’s Northern FanCon.

Skilled trades students in the Prince George School District will benefit from a three-year, $15-million investment by the B.C. government to support youth trades programs with the purchase of new trades training equipment.

The 2017 Telus Cup, Canada’s National Midget Hockey Championship, is scoring big, thanks to an investment of $55,000 announced by Shirley Bond, MLA for Prince George-Valemount and Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour.

Up to 52 British Columbians from Prince George, Fort St. James and Kelowna are getting the training they need to become cooks and professional log truck operators, thanks to a federal-provincial partnership under the Canada-B.C. Job Fund Agreement.

The B.C. government has committed more than $45,000 for a new partnership project with manufacturers in the province’s North Central region to help identify their labour needs.

When Google Trekker makes sure to stop in your part of the province after visiting places like the Grand Canyon and Great Barrier Reef, you have reason to celebrate a memorable tourism year.