Nelson Creston MLA Michelle Mungall has announced some good news for local businesses. The province is funding another year of the Export Navigator pilot project which helps rural businesses export their products abroad. Specifically, it provides access to expert advisors for small and medium sized businesses. The advisors help navigate the different services available and prepare businesses to become ready to export. Michael Hoher, an advisor for the program, says he’s seen a lot of interest.
Hoher says 46 businesses are active in the pilot right now for the area. Most of them are agri-food and manufacturing businesses.
Liz Cohoe is the designer and owner of the hat company Lillie and Cohoe in Nelson where the funding announcement happened on Wednesday. Cohoe says the program helped her find more efficient ways of moving her products into the United States and she’ll see if there are markets in the UK and Austrailia for her hats. She says the ability to expand is vital.
The Export Navigator pilot project is located in six areas around rural BC. $600,00 in total funding was received to run it for another year.