Working in Valemount

There are worse things than being stuck in Valemount

Yes, it's true that investment opportunities are abundant in Valemount. The potential in the area is largely untapped and land is still reasonably priced. If you want to build in Valemount, you can certainly hire local talent, but remember that this is a very small community. Depending on demand at any given time and if you have a set time frame by which you must achieve completion, you may need to solicit outside help.

On the bright side, the governments of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan have made it easier to share resources and manage extra-provincial corporations with the New West Partnership Trade Agreement (NWPTA).

Transportation Costs

Valemount's relative isolation – an advantage that will help it maintain its "slow paced mountain town" appeal in the long term – creates a transportation challenge. Whether it be transporting materials or labour from elsewhere, an additional cost must be borne by any project that requires external product and resources.

In particular, temporary housing would be required for workers since one cannot really commute to the village on a daily basis from any major centre. Fortunately, the area is serviced by some excellent hotel, motel and bed and breakfast establishments, several of which may be able to make arrangements for longer term stays.

Village Setting; Village Pace

This is by no means an indictment or a complaint, just a simple statement of fact that can pose a challenge to those accustomed to the big city pace: Valemount is a village. You'll have to get to know the "village people" (as this writer has affectionately come to refer to the nice municipal folk who work in the basement of the Valemount Visitor Centre) and work with them to achieve your goals. Dealing with the area's growth is new to them as well, but they seem to be in favour of supporting ideas that will sell Valemount to outside investors. It's just that if you're coming in to do business here, be prepared to jump through a different set of hoops and take it slowly. Best to put aside that stressful concept of "it's got to be done yesterday".

Also, as a small village with a base population of about twelve hundred permanent residents, some business services are simply not available locally (which – to put a positive spin on it – means that an opportunity exists) and will have to be sourced from surrounding areas, usually McBride or Prince George. On the other hand, the locals are supportive and friendly and will readily lend a helping hand with whatever will make Valemount a better place to live.

Putting Valemount to Work

As is the case in so many small communities, Valemount is in need of good jobs in a sustainable industry. With the mill gone and forestry options seemingly not in the picture anymore, the village has been trying to find something to fill the void. While tourism seems to be the obvious choice, its full potential remains unfulfilled, with some critics maintaining that service jobs arising from tourism are largely low-paying jobs. If tourism is not the whole answer, then Valemount needs to find itself a viable market in which to create meaningful jobs that will encourage young folks to stay and build careers.

Tourism: Valemount's Only Sure Thing?

So what of the tourism argument? There's no doubt that Valemount still has untapped potential in the tourism industry. No matter what pace the economy takes, the snow here is usually excellent. What this means is that, at the very least, an annual influx of snowmobilers seeking thrills can always be counted on for winter weekends. However, it appears that this element of reliability in Valemount's tourism doesn't do enough to encourage the village to provide more and better services to grow the industry in general and expand its market share.

One issue is that Valemount continues to suffer from "drive by tourism", some of it in the form of bus tours, but much of it in private vehicles. That is to say, significantly more people stop over for one night – as part of getting to and from somewhere else – as opposed to stopping for two or three days and making Valemount at least part of their destination. Unlike Canmore, Valemount has not mastered the art of marketing multi-day hotel packages to visitors. The proximity of Jasper is an advantage just begging to be exploited in this situation (and the fact is, Jasper already exploits its proximity to Valemount by taking snowmobilers there). Valemount could easily provide additional days of adventure to those already taking a pre-packaged mini-vacation in Jasper, or offer a lower-priced alternative.

Valemount Information Centre & Village Office

Another issue that has proved irksome and counter-productive to the area's tourism is the short season for the Visitor Information Centre. For the past two years, we have hosted friends from Edmonton in Valemount over the Easter long weekend to go fishing. (And fishing is definitely something that most people can do on the spur of the moment with very little "preparation".) With the Visitor Centre closed, it is difficult to find out that you need to go online to purchase a fishing license. Unless you arrive before the local government offices close on Thursday afternoon to buy your license in person, you're basically out of luck if you don't have access to a computer. Whatever the reason to maintain such a limited season for the centre (beginning of May through end of September), the fact remains that if Valemount wants to promote tourism, it would be beneficial to have weekend openings from Easter to Halloween at the very least, if not year-round.

It may well be that Valemount's only "sure thing" is tourism. If that's the case, the village needs to challenge itself to provide adequate year-round information, improved weekend services, and multi-day packages that promote Valemount as an all-seasons destination.