The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News regularly takes stock of progress in the two cities, and the future looks bright from many different aspects.
In The News’ annual feature today, called Outlook – which can be found starting on page B1 – there are voices from the community talking about what is going right.
Mayor Dan Ruimy often talks about the city’s tremendous growth, as the population increases at a rate that doubles the national average.
To accommodate them, we typically see three or four aged houses in downtown Maple Ridge torn down, and their lots combined to create the site of a six-storey apartment building with 100-plus units.
City leaders are trying to ensure the infrastructure keeps pace with this growth, and that’s why Ruimy was recently in Victoria to lobby senior government for funding for its Maple Ridge Moves transportation initiatives, featuring more buses, roads, and even a bridge.
The coming year will see the last of the outdated buildings at the Pitt Meadows Regional Airport demolished.
Everything will have been built or rebuilt, much of it during the airport renaissance, overseen by general manager Guy Miller.
Both Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows see improving the small business climate as a key aspect of growing the local economy.
Both cities work to attract film productions. Both market their natural beauty to attract visitors and tourism. But growing existing small business, and attracting new ones, is seen as key to creating a vibrant local economy, and it’s a focus of people like Maple Ridge economic development director Tyler Westover.
And this week brought a visit by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier David Eby, with funding for a new $1 billion expansion at battery plant E-One Moli.
The expanded plant will add 350 new people jobs to the 100 already there, making E-One Moli Maple Ridge’s largest employer.
The manufacturing of the high output Molicel lithium-ion batteries is seen by senior government as part of a Canada-wide shift from carbon to new energy sources.
For that reason, E-One Moli was able to attract $280 million in senior government funding for their impressive new plant, which will bring family-supporting jobs to their home community.
Good things are happening to give the cities of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows a positive Outlook.
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