A new project designed to facilitate economic growth in the Kootenay-Bounday region will determine the region’s ability to accommodate it by taking stock of employment lands using a GIS (geographic information system) platform.

“This information is a key tool to ensuring economic growth, and helping to create and retain jobs,” general manager of Community Futures East Kootenay Rob Gay said in a press release.

The Basin-Boundary Employment Lands Inventory Project defines employment lands as lands that generate economic wealth. These include agricultural lands; lands zoned or designated for heavy industry, light industry and non-retail commercial; First Nations designated employment lands; and Crown lands available for development. The hope for the project is that it will encourage regional collaboration in order for solutions to shape ecnomic growth can be developed.

In the long term, the inventory is expected to help make the region more attractive to investors, build business retention and expansion, and help communities make more informed planning decisions, stated the release.

Partners in the project include the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation, Community Futures of East Kootenay and the Columbia Basin Trust. The Selkirk College Geospatial Research Centre will provide geospatial mapping

support.