+ ' t 4 ‘ ‘ i i t 7 Saturday, July 11, 1992 @ Your business is our business Neil Rachynski 365-7266 LET IT SLIDE WorkPLA Nadine Zaytsoff of Pete’s TV helps a client as shops prepare for the pulp mill pinch News photo by Neil Rachynski Caada’s major banks say mortgage rates could continue to slide. A Royal Bank executive states a poor economical perpormance the lack of a sealed ~ constitution are keeping Canadians’ purse strings closed tight, thus prolonging a recovery and the chance for interest rates to drop further. REMOTE CONTROL TRAINS CN Railways will be replacing its locomotive engineers in the freight yards with a remote control system. The time-saving system will cost about $3 million to implement. CANNED AND BROKE The Okanagan’s only remaining commercial cannery has filed for bankrupcy. Beaven’s Orchard Cannery Ltd. of Summerland will auction its production line and cannery equipment July 18. Shareholders will get whatever money:is left over after the company’s creditors have been paid off. Beaven has been in the Okanagan since 1970. ¥ heant Casvlesar’s : Neil Rachynski NEWS REPORTER ocal businesses are I trying to dodge a bullet. The B.C. pulp strike is starting to have a ripple effect on the local economy and some shops are beginning to brace themselves. “People are starting to cut back on the luxury items,” Canada Safeway assistant manager Brent Weir says, “things like gourmet type foods, expensive cuts of meat and fancy bakery items, but you still buy your basic items.” Pete’s TV owner Pete Zaytsoff has already made arrangements with his suppliers. “Ordering is lower, back-up stock is lower and there’s no warehousing — we order as required” Zaytsoff said. At the Fireside Inn, owner- manager Ernie Turta says, “we’ve had quite a few people check out. On Monday we were over-booked by five rooms and by 2 p.m. the same day we had five empty rooms. “The tourists are picking up the slack. If it wasn’t for them we'd be feeling it.” Turta says the Inn’s lunches and dinners have slowed down as well. The manager of the Castlegar and District Chamber of Commerce says she hasn’t received too much feedback at this point. “But it’s funny,” Renee Read says, “it’s strange we haven’t had our members calling us about it or anything.” ie Read does say the |} chamber would like the | situation resolved. She’s seen the effects of a lengthy strike firsthand. : “It gets nasty,” Read || says. “When I was in Fort N REW ARRIVALS? St. John our teachers’ strike was on (in May, 1991), and students didn’t graduate and didn’t get into university. » “People get physically abusive,” Read adds, “and people start losing their homes because they can’t pay the mortgage. It tears a community apart. There’s a lot of hard feelings that take a long time to get rid of.” Castlegar residents don’t have far to look to find out what a long-term strike or lockout can do to a city — Sparwood has both. Since May, a strike at one mine and a lockout at another have put 2,500 to 3,000 jobs on hold.Sparwood’s Chamber of Commerce manager Kathy Horsley says, “small businesses are cutting back staff and inventory, and then you get into the inventory thing where you don’t have the selection so people shop elsewhere.” Read says she was told businesses in Sparwood are closing down one after another and people are leaving in droves. Sparwood is not just trying to attract new business — they’re trying to keep the ones they already have. Read says the financial squeeze can hit some pretty unlikely places. “Most of our kids sports activities are sponsored by local businesses, and (those businesses) may not be able to afford that sponsorship,” Read said. Read says Castlegar should diversify its economic base. “Strikes are here forever. We’ve got to have something to rely upon other than Celgar. We are the hub of the West Kootenay and the potential for this area is excellent,” Read said. In the meantime, businesses are bracing themselves. “We've been here quite a few years,” Zaytsoff says, “and we've seen what can happen with a strike. “We're not going to fly by the seat of our pants.” Top 10 employers leaves me feeling a tad vulnerable NeiIRACHYNSKI The Kootenay Business Magazine has come out with its first- ever list of Top 50 Kootenay employers. The companies are ranked by their number of employees: Here's the top 10: 1. Cominco Lid. (Trail, Warfield) — 2,409 2. Westar Mining Ltd. (Sparwood) — 1,887 3. C.P. Rail (Cranbrook, Golden, Revelstoke) — 1,240 4. Crestbrook Forest Industries (Creston) — 1,205 5. Fording (Elkford) — 1,022 6. Pope and Talbot (Castlegar, Grand Forks, Midway) — 780 7. Cominco (Kimberley) — 687 8. Trail Regional Hospital — 650 Coal Ltd. 9. Province of B.C. (Nelson) — 523 10. School District No.2 (Cranbrook) — 515 eee The magazine says the top 10 companies in the Kootenays have twice as many employees as the remaining 40 combined. Feel vulnerable yet? Employees at Westar, Pope and Talbot, Cominco and Crestbrook are either locked out, on strike or laid off, just to name a few. The numbers increase when you take into account the strike or lockout potential of the BCGEU, the BCMA or West Kootenay Power. I’m sure the magazine’s list would be considerably different if it was drawn up in order of job security. @ Saturday, July 11, 1992 FastLANE oe Win or lose, it’s in The News. Jonathan Green 365-7266 BULL’S EYE Pat Quinn did well for himself at the Sunfest darts tournament. The Robson resident took top honor in the singles category, teamed up with Tony MacAlpine to win the doubles crown, then won the team title with Jim Olson, Roy Olson, and Dot Byrne. THAT’S THE TICKET Nearly six million tickets have been printed for the Barcelona” Olympics. The tickets weigh 12 tons, would cover about 1,000 tennis courts, and would double the height of the Eiffel Tower if stacked one on top of another. HOWE’S IT GOING Mark Howe said Wednesday he hopes to close his career in the city where his father became a hockey legend, signing a two- year contract with the Detroit Red Wings. The 37-year-old veteran said he chose Detroit because he was looking for a team with a good chance of winning the Stanley Cup in the one or two years he has left to play. LocddSPORTS _aE CANADIAN RED CROSS Ex-CFL and B.C.Lion great Jim Young will swing into town this week with some from the tournament and subsequent auction go to the local Red Cross. Young and company ready for annual visit Mi Hockey and football stars of the past and present set to tee it up for local charity at annual Jim Young tourney Jonathan Green SPORTS REPORTER Some of the better known names in B.C. hockey and football will descend on Castlegar this week, but they'll have golf on their minds. The annual Jim Young Celebri- ty golf tournament hits the local course Thursday, and the ex-B,C. Lion great is looking forward to it. “Yes I am. It’s become some- thing special every year,” he said from Vancouver. “It’s gone over well, and it’s gone over well in the community.” Now in its fifth year, the tour- nament has raised some $40,000 for the local Red Cross, and repre- sentative Harry Grossmith says oe are looking up for number ve. “(The money raised) has grown every year by $3,000 to $5,000,” he said. With that in mind, Grossmith expects this year’s field of 125 will surpass last year’s total raised of $17,000. “The tournament is getting big- ger and better every year,” he said, adding that $20,000 isn’t an un- reasonable goal this year. “We sort of judge it by how much money has been raised.” Young said he’s happy to have seen the tournament reach its fifth birthday, and would be just as happy to see that many more. “If it continues to go well and is popular, ‘I.hope so,” he said. Young said the tournament’s success is owed to many people, tipping his hat to sponsors Celga’ r Pulp Co., Columbia Brewing Co., Air B.C. and the Sandman Inn. “Weve been fortunate to have four major sponsors since day 1,” he said. “It makes it very easy to do it.” But it’s not only the sponsors who’ve made the tourney a suc- cess. Young said guys like ex-Lion teammates John Blaine, coming back for his fifth year, and Al Wil- son and Paul Girody, both return- ing for year number three do their part by lending their time. “A lot of the guys who’ve been want to come back,” he said. “Those kind of things make it fun.” In addition to the gridiron greats will be some 10 past and present members of the Vancou- ver Canucks, among them old fan favorite goalie Cesare Maniago and current favorite and Nelson- native Greg Adams. Reached at his home in West- bank Thursday, Adams said he’s counting the days until tee time. File Photo golfing buddies for his annual tournament Thursday. Proceeds “It’s exciting,” he said. “I’m re- ally looking forward to coming home. “It’s the first summer I haven't spent in Nelson.” A regular at the Jim Young, Adams said ev- erybody from the Red Cross to the golfers to t h e gallery “It’s a fun tour- nament,” he said. “Everybody has a really good time.” Grossmith said as of Thursday there were about15 spots open and inquiries to fill them or about the tournament to call the Red Cross at 365-3911. Greg Adams Need a mortgage? We'll make it happen.