One of Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhoods is changing – rapidly – and the Strathcona Business Improvement Association wants to keep the community in the loop.
On June 13, the BIA will be hosting its first Meet the Makers Expo, as part of its ongoing Made in Strathcona campaign.
Eighteen Strathcona businesses, from restaurants and cafes to breweries and artisan producers, will convene at MakerLabs (780 E. Cordova) from 11am-3pm to offer interactive demonstrations, workshops, and complimentary samples of their locally-made products. Joji Kumagai, executive director of the Strathcona BIA, hopes attendees will discover, celebrate, and learn about the inner workings of the area’s diverse and creative businesses.
“It’s a way to bring businesses together with community members and residents as well,” explains Kumagai. “Community change is a complex discussion, so we want to incorporate as much into the event as we can.”
Strathcona – bounded by Clark, Venables, and Gore – is home to a diverse range of “makers,” from world-class manufacturers to innovative startups and old-world craftspeople, that employ a substantial 7,000 people. Vancouver’s industrial heart is also a productive tax base. As such, Kumagai stresses that it is important to protect it and learn about it.
“Our area, as a predominantly industrial area,” says Kumagai, “so [the expo is] really looking at anybody who generates some kind of product or service. Part of it is because we want to support our industrial members,” he continues, “and part of it is also because the industrial land spaces are increasingly becoming a little bit precarious, so we want to make sure that that voice is heard.”
According to the BIA, Strathcona is home to roughly 9,000 residents and 450 businesses, but that number – building on zoning changes that were set in motion in the 1990s – is set to climb with a series of housing projects and proposed rezonings.
“Back in the 1990s, city council legislated a zoning change along East Hastings to go from pure industrial to more mixed use,” says Kumagai, who is in his sixth year with the BIA. “It’s taken a few years for that to really start changing, but we’re starting to see that in context with Strathcona Village [which has a planned 350 residential units], we have a new library going in [with four storeys of housing for women and children], and another project on the 1200 block that will be going through rezoning in the future, as well as a few other sites.”
At the event, the public will have the opportunity to hear from a panel of community stakeholders, including Strathcona Village marketer Bob Rennie and four Strathcona businesses, and ask questions and offer input about the vision for the neighbourhood.
Meet the Maker participants include Ed’s Daily, Yolk’s, Liquids and Solids, A.G.R.O. Roasters, Pat’s Lager, Bomber Brewing, YEW Woodshop, Propellor, Homesteader’s Emporium and more. For a full list and to reserve tickets to the free event, head to MadeInStrathcona.com.
