UNBC's Community Development Institute was officially opened in Fort St. John Wednesday morning with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Dozens of city officials and community and business leaders gathered to mark the grand opening of the institute, which will work with industry, local business, non-profits, First Nations and other levels of government to help identify challenges and develop policies to diversify the region's economy.
The city partnered with the university in 2016 to open the office, the first "in-community" office for the institute, and has committed $1.4 million to help fund its work over four years.
"This is a very significant partnership we are opening up today," Mayor Lori Ackerman said.
"We have a lot of local strategies and initiatives that are ongoing right now, and we're going to really pull them together in this building and offer some significant opportunity to not only move those strategies forward but to create new ones."
The CDI was established in 2004 with a mandate of community and economic development.
Marleen Morris, a co-director from the institute, said she looks forward to the institute being a part of the community for some time.
"We want to work with the community on the issue of change, to equip the community to better anticipate change, and plan for and implement strategies to help change along," Morris said.
Morris envisions the institute as being a place for collaborative learning.
"We want to create a space where we can talk and think and plan together," she said.
Rene Laboucane, a former Fort St. John resident, has returned to the city to take on the role of the institute's senior facilitator.
