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August 28, 2014 - 2:32 PM
PENTICTON - City officials say Penticton is seeing more businesses and people coming to town from Alberta, and Jet Power and Controls Ltd. is the most recent.
The Alberta-based business is in the process of opening a manufacturing plant in Penticton’s industrial sector.
Jet Power is a growing company, having doubled in size every year for the last three years, said Devon Sandford, President and CEO. But he adds it’s a real struggle to find people that do what they do since the work is so specialized.
After conducting interviews and talking to people in the Okanagan, Sandford said it was clear the Okanagan had what he was looking for.
“The Okanagan is a treasure trove of talent when it comes to highly experienced individuals that value the life-work balance,” he said.
The 50 to 60 local employees that will be hired will still need training.
Jet Power builds stations that distribute power generated from facilities, including oil companies, car plants, manufacturing facilities, safely and accurately. The Penticton factory will manufacture the materials needed to distribute this power. The materials can be delivered anywhere in the world, but right now JetPower is focussing on the North American market, Sandford said.
Penticton does look to Alberta a lot for new businesses, residents and homeowners, said the city’s director of economic development Colleen Pennington.
She says the new business will benefit the city’s economy in several ways. The residential market will get a boost with people moving to Penticton from Alberta and across the Okanagan, which will result in more people investing in the community. And the business Jet Power generates from exporting manufactured goods will also, ultimately, generate income for the city.
Sandford hopes to have the plant up and running by the end of the year.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Meaghan Archer at marcher@infotelnews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014