CBT supports college programs

A grant from Columbia Basin Trust has funded training equipment for a trades program at College of the Rockies

1 of 2Dr. Nick Rubidge, CEO of College of the Rockies, thanks Neil Muth, CEO of Columbia Basin Trust, for a grant of $560,000 to the college trades program. — Marie Milner photo

2 of 2Keith Powell, publisher of Kootenay Business magazine, interviews Neil Muth, CEO of Columbia Basin Trust, and Greg Deck, Columbia Basin Trust chair. — Marie Milner photo

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In February 2013, the Cranbrook and District Chamber of Commerce held its regular luncheon meeting at College of the Rockies (COTR), in conjunction with the annual career and job fair put on by COTR and Kootenay Business magazine. Neil Muth, CEO of Columbia Basin Trust (CBT), was the keynote speaker, and he was joined by Greg Deck, chair of CBT, for an interview by Keith Powell, publisher of Kootenay Business; the interview took place before an audience of luncheon attendees.

Overview of CBT's mandate

Muth explained that, in general terms, CBT works closely with people who live in the Columbia Basin to develop and deliver programs and initiatives that respond to their needs and support their communities. One or two more questions from Powell confirmed that this generalized statement barely hints at the breadth and depth of involvement and work that CBT does in southeastern British Columbia.

As stated on CBT's website and reiterated by Muth and Deck, CBT’s focus is to support communities in the Columbia Basin in the following manner:

• improve environmental conditions in the Basin;
• identify social and economic priority issues and implement mechanisms to address them;
• improve Basin residents’ understanding and involvement in water issues; and
• ensure youth in the Basin are actively engaged in addressing social, economic and environmental issues.

These are lofty aims, for sure—and thank goodness CBT is on the job. By listening to business people and community groups throughout the Basin, asking hard questions and carefully discerning the core issues that need to be addressed, CBT is able to provide guidance and support so that action can be taken to benefit the region.

Found money assigned to post-secondary education

Here’s an example of CBT’s recent support of the trades program at Cranbrook-based College of the Rockies (COTR):

“It turned out that implementation of new accounting rules unexpectedly freed up some money in our budget a few months ago,” said Muth, “so we started looking around for one-off projects in the Basin that we could assist with, in a number of categories including post-secondary. We had some discussions with Selkirk College and COTR, and (Dr.) Nick (Rubidge, CEO of COTR) right off the bat suggested a mining haul-truck simulator. He indicated the level of assistance that would help, and that amount was doable on our end.”

The amount provided by CBT was $560,000. To learn more about CBT programs and initiatives, visit the website or call 1-800-505-8998.