Skip to content

Olympic spin-offs here: report

While the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games brought more than $168 million in new business to Metro Vancouver communities such as Richmond, Surrey and Maple Ridge, Tri-City companies were left out in the cold during the initial investment bonanza.

While the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games brought more than $168 million in new business to Metro Vancouver communities such as Richmond, Surrey and Maple Ridge, Tri-City companies were left out in the cold during the initial investment bonanza.

But even though foreign investors may have overlooked partnerships in the Tri-Cities, businesses here and across the region are still benefiting from the trickle-down growth sparked by those major investments.

That's according to a Metro Vancouver Commerce report released on the eve of the first anniversary of the Vancouver Olympics that estimates a $306-million economic spin-off for the region as a result of hosting the Games.

The report estimates the Olympics brought $168.8 million in direct business investments to the region in the form of capital funding and foreign partnerships with local businesses as well as the filming of major Hollywood productions such as the latest Mission Impossible movie shot in Vancouver, Richmond and Maple Ridge.

"It is highly unlikely this project would be filming in Metro Vancouver and Maple Ridge without the opportunity we had to expose decision-making executives to the benefits of doing business here," Maple Ridge Mayor Ernie Dakin is quoted as saying in the summary report.

But while Tri-City businesses didn't rope in any of that $168 million in direct investments, they are reaping indirect profits from the region's exposure to international trade during the Olympics and in the post-Games glow, according to the report.

Wayne Beggs, Coquitlam's economic development manager, told The Tri-City News that while the exact economic benefits of the Olympics are difficult to quantify, there has been measurable growth in the retail and home-building sectors in Coquitlam.

"Some of it's just jobs and some of it's investments, like when a company moves here, they're buying paper and it's shipped through a warehouse in Coquitlam," said Beggs.

"We say, 'All boats rise.' When Vancouver benefits, we benefit," he added.

Port Moody city manager Gaetan Royer agreed, saying, "We're a fully integrated economy. A printer in Port Moody might get a contract from one of these new companies. One of our realtors might have benefited from a land purchase or from being the go-between for a lease of space. We might have some of our accounting firms involved in supporting these new businesses.

"We can't pinpoint where the benefits are but, obviously, there is foreign money coming into the region and that money is multiplied in our regional economy and Port Moody benefits from that," Royer said.

While Coquitlam and Port Moody were both members of Metro Vancouver Commerce, a board promoting international investment in the region in the lead-up to the 2010 Games, Port Coquitlam was not.

Jennifer Little, Port Coquitlam's economic development planner, could not be reached for comment in time for publication Tuesday.

The cost of setting up Metro Vancouver Commerce was $1.5 million, with $800,000 coming from the federal government and the remainder kicked in from the participating municipalities, according to the report prepared by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers for Metro Vancouver Commerce.

tcoyne@tricitynews.com