Big Investments in Kelowna's Leading Industries
Funding for Tech Centre & Wine Export program announced
The Kelowna Innovation Society (KIS) recently received a strong federal endorsement in the form of a pivotal financial commitment for the Okanagan Centre for Innovation (OCI).
The Honourable Michelle Rempel, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification (WD), was in Kelowna last month to announce a $3.4 million investment that will build out, equip, and operate 24,000 sq. ft. of publicly funded space at the OCI.
With this contribution from WD, the OCI now enjoys support from all three levels of government: municipal, provincial and federal. Combined with the solid backing of private enterprise and the academic community, Kelowna's new tech centre has tremendous momentum.
"We're thrilled to be partnering with the Government of Canada on this initiative," says Society Director and VP, Jeff Keen, "this funding allows us to fully execute on the vision for the OCI and provide maximum support to the startup & entrepreneurial ecosystem."
This comes on the heels of a recent announcement of a $630,000 grant from the same ministry toward the partnership of the BC Wine Industry and University of British Columbia's Okanagan Campus. This will help strengthen the BC wine industry's export readiness and global identity for international growth.
A big thank you goes out to our MP, Ron Cannan. We wouldn't have these grants if it weren't for his constant lobbying for our riding!
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