This week Coast Reporter presents our annual look at business innovators and business opportunities here on the Sunshine Coast.
Horizon has been a staple feature for us at Coast Reporter for the past seven years. We have tried to capture unique stories about business leaders and projects that make the Sunshine Coast click — and this year is no exception.
We see what is growing at the wonderful Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden in West Sechelt, and the soon-to-be-open Gibsons Public Market. It promises to be a spring blooming with activity at both the garden and market. The volunteers who have made both of these facilities shine are incredible. Paddy Wales, the garden president is bursting with enthusiasm and her green thumb certainly has pointed the botanical garden in the right direction.
I still remember many years ago when Wales and several other volunteers appeared at Gibsons council and planted the seed — the idea for the garden. Wales appeared before other Coast municipal governments and finally the land was secured in West Sechelt. Then the real heavy lifting and digging began. Flash forward to today and the Sunshine Coast is home to a world-class botanical garden.
The Gibsons Public Market has been a labour of love for so many other volunteers and donors up and down the Coast. They have helped to transform the old yacht club into what promises to be a wonderful meeting space for events, entertainment and a public market that hopefully one day will rival that of Granville Island. I know, I know, wishful thinking, but hey, why not? Why can’t the Market and Gibsons be that destination that everyone is talking about?
Horizon, for me, actually started on Friday afternoon March 28 at the Gibsons Marina.
I was on hand to witness the launch of the largest yacht ever built on the Coast. Coastal Craft and its 40-plus-member crew worked for 14 months of this amazing project. Owner Jeff Rhodes and all of his employees should be immensely proud of what they have accomplished. The work is first-class and top notch. I had no idea that we had so much talent in this industry in our own back yard and as luck would have it, Coastal Craft is one of the featured stories in today’s Horizon section. You will get an inside look at the project and what makes Coastal Craft the successful business that it is.
But the good news is just not in our Horizon section. On Sunday, March 30 there were two other “good news” stories that we covered — the dedication of the new St. Mary’s Catholic Church and the poignant celebration of the new chief and council for the Sechelt Indian Band.
It’s an exciting time here on the Sunshine Coast. Lots of positive things are brewing. Lots of projects are being completed for the benefit of us all. Have a read of today’s section and see all the good things on the Horizon. It will be sure to put a smile on your face.
