Smithers

Hikers enjoying the mountain views in Smithers — Article by: Sarah Zimmerman Photo: Marty Clemens

Click here to visit the Smithers Chamber of Commerce website.

As you pull into Smithers, it’s hard to miss Hudson Bay Mountain standing tall above the town, the ski runs cut out of the treeline plain to see from the valley. It’s like a beacon for the adventurous, a sign that you have arrived in Smithers and a familiar landmark for many. Hudson Bay Mountain Ski Resort not only draws skiers and snowboarders from around the region, it’s been the backdrop for movies too.

Smithers is home to a wide range of working professionals, government employees, entrepreneurs, resource industry and people connected to the land through small scale farming, and agriculture. Equally, mining, forestry and fishing are important foundations to the economy in Smithers.

Smithers’ alpine charm and walkable downtown makes it a super fun community to explore. With cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling drawing visitors in the winter and biking, kayaking, horseback riding and angling luring folks in the summer, the incredible outdoor recreation opportunities is a huge attraction not only for residents but visitors alike.

Adventure seekers have a huge array of options in Smithers to outfit their trips including retail outlets like Local Supply Company that has one of the best stocked skateboard and snowboard stores in the northwest featuring a giant selection of outerwear, streetwear, accessories and hard goods. And the good people over at McBike can always set you up with all your biking needs. Water sport enthusiasts love to hit up Aquabatics, located on the shore of Lake Kathlyn as their go-to sources for all paddle boards, kayaks and accessories.

Not only is the valley known for its stellar recreational opportunities, it’s got a rich land base that supports all manner of farming, small scale agricultural opportunities and businesses inspired by the land.

Take for example, Little Lamb Lavender, a Smithers based business that makes handcrafted skin care and wellness products, featuring lavender grown on owner Naomi Nyuli’s 35-acre farm. Nyuli, who is no stranger to entrepreneurship, wanted to connect her passion for building a business from the ground up with sustainable natural products that would be of benefit to her customers.

She has collaborated with other makers and business people not just in Smithers, but in other communities such as Terrace, Kitimat and Prince Rupert where she wholesales her products and travels to attend markets and craft fairs to connect with other entrepreneurs in the region. She agrees that making a cultural shift to consciously support other regional producers by sourcing and using their raw materials in some of her products, is a way of creating a more robust regional economy.

“We need to support our neighbours and friends so we can continue to enjoy the personalized service and specialized goods they bring to our community,” says, Nyuli, who also operates Yoga Cowgirl, offering wellness retreats on her farm and in the area. “Running a homebased business can feel isolating sometimes, but when you reach out and expand your networks, you not only find new business opportunities, you develop important relationships with other people who understand the challenges and rewards that come with building a business in the north.”

Ali Howard and her sister Monica own Nature’s Pantry Holistic, a family business that was established in 2011. The business has been built on the values of excellent customer service and a desire to carry a diverse selection of natural and organic body care products, foods, spices and medicinal herbs. Being connected to regional producers is important to being able to source fresh produce and goods that are featured at the store.

“It’s a great area for growing things and producing things so we work with quite a number of local producers and those items are all among our best sellers,” says Ali Howard, adding they source goods from Kispiox and Telkwa and even receive shipments of coveted Haida Gwaii carrots as well.

Smithers is special in a lot of ways – including the diversity of businesses, perspectives and views.

“Despite differing views, our community strongly values local producers, growers and farmers,” says Ali Howard. “This principle has allowed these businesses to continue to operate and thrive during challenging circumstances and proven a unifying commonality.”

Located on the unceded territory of the Wet’suwet’en people, Smithers’ economy thrives not only from the support of other centres in the region, but from the business that comes from surrounding towns and villages including Telkwa, Hazelton and the Wet’suwet’en village of Witset. Smithers serves as a place for people to gather and visit but also shop.

For the Smithers Art Gallery, showing the talents from across the region, both Indigenous and settler, contributes to the rich arts and culture scene that makes Smithers special. Recently the gallery extended a call for art for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit artists living in the unceded territories of northwestern BC to submit applications to an upcoming group show called Northern Indigenous Perspectives to be shown in the summer of 2022.

“We are so excited to host this curated exhibition highlighting Indigenous artists from across northern BC. There are so many talented, working Indigenous artists in our region that deserve recognition and a place to have their art showcased,” says Gallery Manager, Nicole Chernish. “The vast nature and diversity of northern BC will certainly be recognized in the artwork received - textiles, carvings, paintings, photography, jewelry and beyond. Celebrating art created by Indigenous artists is integral to sharing culture, identity and understanding among all of us who live, work and love our beautiful community.”

The vibrant arts and culture scene in the Bulkley Valley includes Juno-award winning musician Alex Cuba, renowned songwriter Mark Perry and visual artists such as Hazelton’s Leah Pipe and Argentinian-born, Facundo Gastia, who calls Smithers home. The rich diversity of artists, musicians and designers makes Smithers a community both rich in historical tradition and modern culture.

Smithers Musician Mark Perry — Photo: Marty Clemens

While Smithers is home to a wide variety of boutiques, accommodations and restaurants, it’s also a community that has larger box stores that draw people from around the region Businesses like the Smithers Lumber Yard, Canadian Tire and Bulkley Valley Wholesale offer a wide variety of products that draw shoppers from around the region. Smithers is located within an hour’s drive of other communities such as Houston, Telkwa, Witset, Hazelton all the way up to Dease Lake, Iskut and Telegraph Creek, who make the trip to town to stock up on the essentials.

Like so many other communities in the northwest, natural resources present economic opportunities for major industries such as mining, forestry and other resource projects. The economic impact of these projects and industries means that local spending on suppliers, retailers and professional services have a big impact.

Seabridge Gold operates an office out of Smithers and has a long history of being connected to the community, not only contributing to the local economy through creating jobs, but is also an example of a company the demonstrates its commitment to the community by sourcing products from local retailers. From vehicles to branded items to office furniture, Seabridge Gold has made it a priority to support local retailers as much as possible.

Smithers was recently ranked as the top municipality in BC for mineral exploration spending. Mineral exploration companies spent an estimated $105.2 million in Smithers in 2020 – a significant contribution to the community.

Click here to visit the Smithers Chamber of Commerce website.

Prince Rupert

Burns Lake