The City of Revelstoke received $100,000 in funding to implement its new technology strategy, the BC Government announced Friday.
The city successfully applied for funding from the province’s Rural Dividend program to hire a coordinator to implement the strategy.
According to a project description by Alan Mason, the city’s director of economic development, the goal of the program are to:
— Promote the broadband capacity that exists in Revelstoke;
— Support existing technology companies to help them grow;
— Promote Revelstoke as a tech-friendly community;
— Work with the school district to mentor students and increase the number of tech jobs available to youth in the community;
— Identify opportunities to bring technology businesses, like a data centre, to Revelstoke;
— Identify barriers to the growth of the technology sector and work to reduce them;
— Double the number of technology workers in Revelstoke, increase the number of tech businesses by 50 per cent, attract one major tech project or company, provide employment or mentorship opportunities for 20 youth in the technology sector.
The City is being asked to contribute $30,000 of its own money to the program, bringing total funding to $130,000 over two years. City council is scheduled to vote on making a contribution from the Economic Opportunity Fund on Tuesday, Oct. 11.
The Rural Dividend is an $8.16 million fund set up by the BC Government to help small and rural communities boost and diversify their economies.