By Brent Bosker

Industry high on city’s green industrial park

Oct 25, 2010 | 6:15 AM

A future home for green, friendly industry is still a year away from opening in Prince Albert, but the concept has potential tenants buzzing with interest.
Canadian Bio-Energy Management is the firm in charge of finding businesses to locate to the city’s green industrial park.
Robin Woodward was recently in Vancouver for the national bio-energy conference.
Woodward said they met with existing companies that have a green philosophy, as well as those with new green technologies.
“It was a productive set of discussions that we had out there with a lot of different companies,” said Woodward, who traveled to the conference with officials from the city.
No commitments have been secured yet, but Woodward said companies are attracted to Prince Albert’s overall business environment.
“They like the fact that we’ve got an integrated plan that links an industrial development plan on green, to an airport location, to a highway location and to work force that’s here and ready to move into that green development sector,” said Woodward.
Woodward said they’ve also had discussions with a number of Prince Albert companies that are thinking of expanding in a green way.
Woodward admits we’re not the only community that’s taking a green approach to industry.
“There are other communities in western Canada some in central Ontario,” he said.
“We are leading in many areas. We’ve got a lot of the infrastructure now being put on the ground.”
The City has also development a price structure to attract companies where land prices will reflect their total investment and how green their business plan is.
The 28-acre green industrial park would be located north of the airport and east of Little Red River Park along Highway 55.
The City received almost $3 million under the Community Development Trust Fund to develop the park.
Construction is expected to begin next year with completion sometime in the fall of 2011.
bbosker@rawlco.com