People of PacifiCan: Dale Richardson

As a Senior Business Officer in PacifiCan’s new Prince Rupert office, Dale is working with business and community leaders to foster economic growth in Northern B.C. We caught up with Dale to hear more about his passion for and commitment to community economic development.

How did you arrive at PacifiCan?

A combination of private and public sector experiences contributed to my arrival at PacifiCan. I came to PacifiCan from the Province of BC where, for the past ten years, I was Director, Northern Region with the Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation’s Regional Economic Operations branch.

What interested you about PacifiCan?

I have been working in regional economic development for many years and so I understand how important and how great the need is to help communities and businesses diversify and grow. The opportunity to directly support PacifiCan’s renewed emphasis on community economic development was what interested me the most.

What do you do in a typical day?

There is no typical day when you are working in economic development. The activities that keep me busy on any given day include being a pathfinder - helping people navigate federal economic programs and services, being a convenor by making connections to foster collaboration both internally and with our external networks, being an advisor to inform economic decision-making, and hopefully helping to create jobs and growth as a result of my program support.

What do you find most rewarding about your work? 

What I find most rewarding is the knowledge that I have been given an opportunity to make a difference to the citizens of Northern B.C., the province and the country through the work I do.

What makes the Northern region special? 

Every region of the province is, of course, unique and the north is no exception. It covers two-thirds of the province by geography, but it is characterized by small, rural and often remote communities separated by many miles of highway. The economies of the north are largely resource driven, but we have some significant and even historic major projects underway that are transforming the economic landscape – port development in Prince Rupert, LNG Canada in Kitimat, and Site C in northeast B.C. are good examples of this. 

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