Tk'emlups te Secwepemc members blessing the land before construction begins on new Finning location, Sept. 16, 2021.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Finning Canada

The land has been blessed and prepared for construction of a new Finning location at Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc.

The multi-million dollar facility will be twice the size of the current Kamloops facility and is scheduled to open in the fall of 2022, according to a Finning media release.

At the 1357 Kootenay Way location, Finning employees joined the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Land and Culture team and elder, Freda Jules, on Sept. 16, where they blessed the land ahead of construction.

“We welcome Finning to the traditional unceded territory of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc with the sincere wish for the business and their employees to be successful and prosperous,” Tk’emlúps Coun. Justin Gottfriedson said in the release.

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Kukpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir told iNFOnews.ca the new location has her "very excited" for not only employment opportunities, but future partnerships with other industries and between Finning and the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc community.

The new building will be 142,500 square feet and will create around 100 new jobs.

"We are open for business here on the reserve," Casimir said. "We have a lot of land that is available for economic opportunities."

An artist's rendition of the new Finning location at 1357 Kootenay Way.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Finning Canada

Casimir said the move creates opportunities for partnerships in the future to improve infrastructure on the reserve, like roads, sewage and highway frontage.

“Finning is proud to be a part of this community we have lived and worked in for several decades and we are thrilled to create a space that will not only offer a more sustainable footprint but provide employment opportunities in the area,” Finning Canada president, Kevin Parkes, said in the release.

The building is designed to be more energy efficient than the current Valleyview location, with improved heating and cooling, along with efficient lighting, wash water recycling and onsite renewable energy, the company said.

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Casimir said the continued on-reserve business development helps provide better programs and services for their members.

"We continue to look forward to future growth and we want to see further expansions," she said. "We appreciate everyone that does do business on our reserve."

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