The Olympic Flame will arrive in Penticton in less than two weeks and the volunteer committee is thrilled to celebrate the arrival of the flame with an exciting 4-hour event which will feature and highlight the connections between sport, culture, heritage, and the arts. The celebrations at the South Okanagan Events Centre will officially start at 12pm with an Aboriginal welcome from Chief Jonathan Kruger then learn some cheers in Syilx language based on the Olympic dream with the En'owkinwixw Inter-tribal Cheering Squad.

The outside stage will be host to Master of Ceremonies Steve King, who will call-in the torchbearer and also introduce each of the community entertainers.

Enjoy a fast-pace community entertainment line-up, which will be intermixed with the VANOC, Coca-Cola and RBC program, and will include the Blakey School of Dance with FiddleKids Music Group, Quax Tai (Cindi Tran) - Vietnamese Singer, Aly Duursma - Philipino Dancer, Mandeep and Rajdeep Daudhria - Banghra Dance Group, Bobby Bovenzi's Nankama African Drum Group, the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, Okanagan Dance Studios, Gord MacLaren, Get Bent Belly Dancers and Penticton School of Dance with Jake Evans. The National Anthem will be sung acapella by 9-year-old Mariah Gauthier of Summerland.

About an hour into the four-hour celebration program, Penticton's own local Susie Welch will carry the Olympic Torch on its final 300 metres to the stage where she will light the 1.3-metre high celebration cauldron, in a move similar to the dramatic highlight of what will occur during the Opening Ceremony for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

At the end of the outside program, local drummers and more than 30 different International flags will parade the community into the South Okanagan Events Centre to watch an amazing skating performance by the Glengarry Skating Club to the music of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra.

Local Master of Ceremonies Dennis Dumas-Walker will be your host for the inside program and will keep the excitement going as the community continues to be entertained by the 50-piece orchestra and the winter sport demonstrations from the curling club, the UpperDek Vees, the Mini Vees and the Glengarry Skating Club.

The day will wrap up with a high energy performance outside the South Okanagan Events Centre with the freestyle demonstrations to the live music from local bands: Absolute, Chasing Red Lights, The Pasties.

Get excited about the arrival of the Flame to Penticton, dress up in RED and come out and join us in the celebrations on Monday January 25^th from 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm at the South Okanagan Events Centre.

Penticton Economic Development Services has developed a number of initiatives that work towards three main objectives: the retention, enhancement and attraction of business in Penticton. In order for our office to meet the objectives, we have been aggressively working towards setting the climate for investment in Penticton. With that said we have developed an economic investment zones strategy and our recommendations have been sent to the City of Penticton for review and approval. This new bylaw process should take effect in the next few months. More information is available on our website www.imaginepenticton.ca

Export development

We are also re-establishing our organization in the business community and working with a number of companies in developing their export markets. The product of the recent economic downturn has had a definite effect on local industry and an end result has many local businesses looking to expand their global market presence.

2010 Olympics

Penticton Economic Development Services is inviting local business to a business reception in Vancouver, February 18, 2010. This invitation-only event has been designed to showcase Okanagan businesses. Our overall goal is to show the world that the Okanagan region is progressive and innovative and offers investment opportunities in high tech, green infrastructure and agri-food and at the same time offers an exceptional quality of life. The reception provides local business with an opportunity to show their products and services to targeted international media, corporate Olympic visitors and federal & provincial trade and investment partners.

Penticton Regional Airport

Recently Penticton Economic Development Services has developed terms of reference for the enhancement of our local regional airport. The intent of this review is to make recommendations that are intended to provide general guidance regarding airport issues. The Task Force expects there to be improved coordination structured for the economic impact of the airport and objectives reflected in its recommendations. The overall goal of this project is to explore business opportunities and expanded service as the airport is an important transportation hub of our community and beneficial for the speedy transport of goods & services that are necessary for businesses.

As a follow-up to the November 12 federal funding announcement the new Penticton High Tech incubator has found a new home in Penticton. The incubator will be located at 103-386 Ellis Street and they can be contacted at 778-476-5628.  

Penticton Ironman

Working with a number of community leaders Economic Development Services has submitted an application for funding through the Federal Government's Marque Tourism Events Program to develop a festival surrounding the Penticton Ironman Canada event. The overall goal of this program is to extend the stay of our triathletes and their families and transform this event to a tourism destination experience that will highlight the cultural and tourism benefits of Penticton and the South Okanagan.

Watch for more information on Penticton Economic Services and check out our website for more local business announcements.  Stay Tuned!