As the city of Merritt looks to diversify its economy, it has given five foreign businesses letters of referral as part of the Provincial Entrepreneur Immigration – Regional Pilot Program.

Manager of Economic Development Will George says there is not a guarantee these companies set up shop in Merritt, but this is a step towards that. “And the end result that this business case program is providing is a location for new businesses, new residents and permanent residency at the end of this. So there are a couple additional steps following the foreign entrepreneurs receiving that letter of referral, but that’s the first step.”

George says it received about 200 inquiries about the program and those will likely result in more visits to the community. “The number of inquiries we’ve received, we’ve approved five for letter of referral and then those letters of referral with the full application goes on to the province. So that doesn’t mean that those five will be for sure setting shop here, but they have received the stamp of approval from the city.” He adds there could be more letters of referral being handed out soon. “Individuals are at different stages of their application. We’ve hosted around 15 exploratory visits and we have another scheduled 14 within the next six months here. So we are expecting others to come forward.”

George says the city selected three categories of businesses that could work in the community. Those are truck transportation, store retail and storage