January 2017 | Business View Magazine

134 135 TERRACE, BRITISH COLUMBIA Centrally located in northwest British Colum- bia, the city of Terrace operates as the supply and service center for the region, catering to the communities of Prince Rupert to the west, Kitimat to the south, and north into the Nass Valley. Traditionally a forestry town, the city has been busy reinventing itself since the downturn of the lumber industry in the 1990s. A diversi- fying regional economy and growth in cultural tourism embracing local First Nations heritage has redefined the city and region. Geographically speaking, Terrace is 550 air miles northwest of Vancouver, 37 miles from the Pacific Ocean, and sits on a series of natural Terrace, British Columbia Reinvention of a Forest Town flat ‘benches’ or terraces within the scenic Skee- na River Valley. At 196 feet above sea level, in the shelter of the Coast Mountains, the region benefits from a climatic ‘greenhouse’ effect. Moderate temperatures and rainfall optimize growth of a variety of fruit, including delicious cherries, and other specialty crops. The junction of the Skeena and the Kitsum- kalum Rivers was originally the site of Tsim- shian First Nation Settlements, and fur trading and gold prospecting were the principal activi- ties in the area from 1770 to 1900. In the early 1890s, a steamboat route was established up the Skeena, and in 1905, George Little staked