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Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell congratulated the recently-formed Northwest B.C. Forest Coalition on the launch of its website to better market forest investment opportunities.

“Businesses can now log onto the coalition’s website whenever they wish and find out in real time how they can be a part of the Northwest forest sector’s growing economic opportunity,” said Bell.

As all the active mills in northwest B.C. are currently east of Smithers, the coalition is soliciting interest from businesses looking to establish a presence in the Northwest region of the province to take advantage of the large volume of wood available there.

In addition to identifying fibre opportunities, the website also provides detailed information on significant business aspects of the coalition, including goals, member companies, links to other regionally important web sites, infrastructure advantages, and photographs.

The Northwest BC Forest Coalition formed in March 2009 to take advantage of the nearly four million cubic metres of underutilized timber in the region. Together, the 11 members of the coalition offer distinct advantages that include a large fibre supply, access to affordable power, an available and innovative labour pool, and reduced shipping times to Asian markets.

“We are very pleased to be able to provide this website to help our Coalition members get the information to the world about the opportunities we can provide,” said Elmer Derrick of Gitxsan Forest Enterprises Inc.

The Northwest BC Forest Coalition website can be viewed at www.nwbc-forestcoalition.org.