The B.C. government is providing $1.2 million in funding to three local manufacturing businesses in the Kootenays, one of them in Kimberley.
Naera Enterprises Inc., which owns Stoke Juice, will be receiving $618,000 to help in the construction of their new manufacturing facility in Marysville.
READ: Stoke Juice plant in Marysville industrial lands gets go ahead
Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, Brenda Bailey made the announcement on Friday, April 19, 2024. The funding comes through the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund.
Stoke produces organic cold-pressed juice using B.C.-grown imperfect fruit and vegetables that can’t be sold in stores. Not only will the plant provide local employment — 34 jobs — it will also reduce food waste.
“This funding will be impactful in both the Kimberley community and the Kootenays by enabling us to expand employment, production capacity and distribution,” said Alistair Laing, co-owner of Stoke. “We team up with many other craft producers in B.C. to help get their products to market using our delivery services, meaning funding that helps grow Stoke Juice helps all our partner businesses, too.
Minster Bailey spoke with the Bulletin after the announcement and said the focus of the grants was to create economic diversity outside of the Lower Mainland, particularly in areas impacted by changes in the forestry industry. And sustainable business plans are a plus.
“All the work we do is related to sustainability,” she said. “We always look at it through that lens.”
While the Stoke project creates 34 jobs, some of the other recipients create less, but Minister Bailey says it is also key that existing jobs are kept in smaller communities. While there are many opportunities for manufacturing in the Lower Mainland, in other more rural parts of the province there are not.
“We are looking for quality projects that maintain and add jobs to drive economic diversity outside of the Lower Mainland,” she said.
And the Kootenay projects are exciting ones, she said.
“Stoke Juice is quite a neat model. To use imperfect fruits and vegetables reduces waste and adds jobs. I’m quite happy to see this happen.”
Also receiving funding are Kicking Horse Coffee Co in Invermere ($330,000) and the Harrop-Proctor Community Cooperative ($215,000).