October is Small Business Month in B.C., and that provides a great opportunity to celebrate local small businesses for the work they do every day.

Over the next decade, there will be an estimated one million job openings in B.C. in many sectors, including liquefied natural gas, mining and mineral exploration, and shipbuilding. Of those job openings, 43 per cent will require trades and technical training.

On February 1, 2008, Grant's Law came into effect. It was the first mandatory gas pre-payment regulation in Canada.

Tourism is one of British Columbia's most important industries. The traveller economy generates over $3 billion in export revenue annually.

110,320 job openings are expected in the Thompson-Okanagan region to 2020; nearly 28% of these (30,740) are expected to be newly created jobs.

31,170 job openings are expected in the Kootenay region to 2020; 27% of these (8,500) are expected to be newly created jobs.

By 2020, British Columbia will see more than one million job openings, with 18,000 of those forecasted for the Northeast.

19,890 job openings are expected in the North Coast and Nechako region to 2020; 30% of these (5,960) are expected to be newly created jobs.

A total of 29,170 job openings are expected in the region till 2020. Among them, 4,490 are expected to be new jobs due to economic expansion.

The region accounts for almost two-thirds of the total projected job openings in the province. Of the 666,250 job openings in the region, 61% are due to the need to replace retiring workers.