By Times Staff
The estimated total loss of sales due to wildfires last summer in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District was over $21 million.
Almost 100,000 hours of employment were lost, resulting in a very conservative estimate of just over $1 million in lost wages.
Total direct economic loss due to wildfires was estimated at $31 million, and that number is expected to rise.
Those were just some of the numbers in a report about the Wildfire Recovery Initiative for businesses affected by last summer’s wildfires.
READ MORE: Wildfire recovery report
Myles Bruns, regional manager from the Community Wildfire Recovery Branch of the Ministry of Forests,. Lands, Natural Resource Operations, and Rural Development, gave a presentation on the report to the TNRD board of directors during its Feb. 8 meeting.
The report contains several recommendations for helping businesses, Bruns said, including:
• Marketing and promotion of the area to help the tourism sector recover;
• Development of a one-on-one direct assistance program to help businesses recover by providing services; and
• Investigating the idea of providing support to assist businesses with the creation of an emergency response and business continuity plan.
The report was written by Kamloops-based consultant Colin O’Leary.
Bruns, O’Leary and other officials hosted two meetings with businesspeople in Clearwater last December to gather information for the report.
READ MORE: Manager to assess wildfire impact on businesses (Nov. 25, 2017)
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