January 2017 | Business View Magazine

124 125 Kimberley, BRITISH COLUMBIA R ecognizing and embracing its natural resources put the town of Kimberley, British Columbia on the map, originally. Now, over a century later, that same mantra is the driving force behind reinvention of an entire community. Once home to the largest lead-zinc mine in the world, today Kimberley houses the largest solar proj- ect in BC. From mining the underground motherlode to blue sky thinking, local visionaries have consistently capitalized on the area’s natural assets, and the future looks bright, indeed. Economic Development Officer Kevin Wilson describes Kimberley as “the epito- me of a Canadian resource town success story” that used its distinctive qualities, and took some entrepreneurial risk–with community support – to foster growth. “There are towns all over this country that drew water, hewed wood, mined the land for many years. And a lot of towns throughout BC that disappeared, became Rocky Mountain makeover Kimberley, BC