Those who feel that Niverville’s business sector has lagged behind its population growth are finally getting some good news.
As anybody who’s driven through town in the last couple of months has noticed, there’s a new addition to the Niverville skyline going up. Although comparisons to Manhattan may be premature, the new office and professional building on Main Street is a welcome addition to the community’s growing business sector.
The building is the brainchild of Garry Stratychuk of ITI Financial. He and his wife Denise are spearheading the two-phase project. He says the new space has been in demand.
“On the main floor we have Hub Insurance and Dr. Heather, the chiropractor,” says Stratychuk. “On the second floor we have my financial services company and the Rising Above Ministry. We also have 1,500 square feet of office space available on the second floor.”
Stratychuk says the project is just what Niverville needs.
“We don’t have the businesses and services compared to other places our size,” he observes. “A thriving community needs to have a business tax base, not just residential tax base.”
He adds that he’s spoken with some companies in Winnipeg that draw significant clientele from Niverville because the service they offer is just not widely available here. “People are having to go elsewhere to get serviced. Accounting services, legal services, medical services. Even if you drive through a smaller centre like St. Pierre, you see they have more businesses than we do.”
Phase one of the project should be completed this fall. Phase two will involve the destruction of the small building immediately to the west. Stratychuk hopes that construction of a new 3,000-square-foot building will begin shortly and be open by the early summer of 2018.
For Stratychuk and others, the slower rate of growth in Niverville’s business sector and a perceived lack of government initiative to spur more business has been a long-term frustration. He feels that this project is a good start toward bringing the business and service sector in town into balance with the residential boom we’ve seen.
“This is a first-call new office space rather than working with old buildings,” he says. “We think it will be a big improvement in the community.”
