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| Last updated at 12:19 PM on 22/02/08 |
Funding provided to help chamber identify business operations from nickel project  
The Telegram
To help maximize business opportunities related to the proposed nickel processing facility in Long Harbour, the Argentia Area Chamber of Commerce has received $51,000 from the provincial government.
The funding will be used to support the second year of the Hydromet Participation Initiative (HPI).
“The development of a commercial nickel processing facility in the Argentia area benefits the region and the entire province by creating employment and business opportunities,” Trevor Taylor, Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, said today.
“This funding will allow the Argentia chamber to advance its strategic initiatives directed at enhancing its services to its members and expanding the local economy.”
The Argentia Area Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit business advocacy organization. Its membership consists of local business people, government and education officials spanning Admiral’s Beach in St. Mary’s Bay to Long Harbour in Placentia Bay, and the inland community of Markland.
The HPI enables local businesses to work with consultants to be strategically positioned for the plant at Long Harbour. The consultants will help identify opportunities and develop capacity to supply goods and services for the nickel processing facility, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2010.
“In the first year of the project we hired a consultant and met with 33 companies that had potential to be suppliers to the project,” said Gerry Hynes, president of the Argentia Area Chamber of Commerce. “Six of the companies are now engaged in cost-sharing studies to identify opportunities and develop business capacity. An additional four companies have expressed an interest in partnering with us in year two, and we believe more companies will become engaged as they see the business and economic benefits that will flow from this project.”
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22/02/08
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