AG Castlegar News August 1, 1990 Committee formed to promote local tourism Tourism Minister Cliff Michael and Provincial Secretary Howard Dirks, chairman of the Kootenay Regional Advisory Group, have announced formation of a government-private sector regional committee to promote and develop tourism industry oppor- tunities throughout the Kootenays. The announcement of the Kootenay Tourism Action Committee stems from the recently-released Kootenay Region Tourism Develop- ment Opportunities Strategy. The strategy, developed in conjunction from local government, chambers of commerce, the tourism industry, en- vironmental groups, and the heritage community with technical support from the three lead ministries. “The strategy and formation of the action committee is an important step towards developing the tourism potential of the entire Kootenay region,” Michael said. “The action committee will work closely with community groups and regional task forces to coordinate im- with the parks, i and tourism task force, is based on inten- sive public and industry of the oppor- tunities strategy,’’ said Dirks. a Tourism Ministry news release said. The i d jointly The r dations address economic diversification in the K with Regional and Economic Development Minister Stan Hagen, and Municipal Affairs, Recreation and Culture Minister Lyall Hanson, is formed from a core of task force members and includes representation Acquisition completed, UtiliCorp says UtiliCorp United has announced that its PSI subsidiary and an invest- ment partner have completed the acquisition of Clajon Holdings, LP. PSI has paid approximately $50 million US in the transaction and owns a 49 per cent interest in Clajon, UtiliCorp said in a news release. PSI and EnCap Financial Services, Inc., of Dallas, Tex., have purchased all outstanding equity in Clajon for $65 million US and paid additional Ps related to the of approximately $5 million US. In ad- dition, Clajon’s existing senior bank debt of approximately $30 million US has been refinanced with a nearly identical senior credit line, West UtiliCorp, thé parent company of West Kootenay Power, said. Under terms of the partnership agreement,’ PSI has an option to pur- chase at a later time all of EnCap’s in- terest in Clajon and EnCap has an op- tion to sell its interest to PSI. Clajon, headquartered in Midland, Tex., owns and operates a 1,200-mile intrastate gas transmission and gathering network, two processing plants that extract and sell natural gas liquids and a subsidiary that markets natural gas and associated natural gas liquids. The company has 154 em- ployees. Clajon gathers gas from more than 1,100 wells and transports it to other pipeline systems through its own pipeline network located throughout south-central Texas. Clajon’s largest pipeline sytem is located in the seven- country Austin Chalk gas fields east of Austin, —Fex.—Total_system_tran- sportation capacity is 450 million cubic feet per day PSI, a wholly owned subsidiary of UtiliCorp based in Omaha, Neb., is one of the U.S.’s major marketers and suppliers of natural gas. PSI owns proven gas and oil reserves, located in offshore areas of Louisiana, Texas and in Oklahoma. It also owns a 280-mile intrastate pipeline system in western Oklahoma. EnCap Financial Services Inc., is an institutional funds manager specializing in energy related finan- cings and oil and gas property acquisitions. The firm has raised more thn $250 million US in the past two years for various oil and gas-related transactions. Based in Kansas City, UtiliCorp provides gas and electricity to 820,000 customers in eight states and in Canada through six regulated divisions and a subsidiary. PSI, UtilCo Group and EnerGroup are non-regulated subsidiaries specializing in utility and energy- realted enterprises. hopin