Chipotle Mexican Grill to open in Victoria
Burrito fans, take note.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, the popular U.S. chain now spreading across Canada, is coming to Victoria.
The company said it will open its first location on Vancouver Island downtown at 1070 Douglas St., but gave no specific date.
It is advertising for a general manager.
California-based Chipotle Mexican Grill has about 3,200 locations. The majority are in 49 states, but expansion has been swift into Canada, with 25 in Ontario, 13 in British Columbia and one in Alberta.
The casual dining chain specializes in burritos, bowls and tacos made in front of customers.
$3M in funding for training firm
RaceRocks 3D Inc., an edtech company specializing in workplace training, has secured a $3-million investment from Raven Capital, a Vancouver-based Indigenous venture capital fund.
Chief executive Anita Pawluk said the investment will support the company in pursuing opportunities in the defence and aerospace industries as it seeks to bolster an Indigenous defence supply chain in Canada.
Althea Wishloff of the Gitxan Nation, a general partner at Raven Capital, said governments are looking toward Indigenous-owned business for their procurement needs.
“There are tremendous impact and commercial opportunities for companies like RaceRocks, who are among the only Indigenous service providers in their vertical,” Wishloff said.
Conference Centre biosphere certified
The capital region’s largest conference facility has received a biosphere certification from the Responsible Tourism Institute.
Paul Nursey, chief executive of Destination Greater Victoria, the region’s non-profit tourism organization, thanked the City of Victoria for the numerous upgrades that have been installed over the past two years at the Victoria Conference Centre.
The centre now operates at a carbon neutral level, having reduced its carbon footprint by 70 per cent in the past decade through facility upgrades and improved practices.
Kerri Moore, Victoria’s director of business and community relations, said that an additional 200 sustainability checkpoints had to be completed to achieve the biosphere certification.
Some of those actions included a commitment to using green products, reducing energy consumption and emissions per delegate day by 50 per cent in comparison with 2012 levels, and producing a publicly available annual sustainability report.
The conference centre saw 83,500 delegate days last year, down from 118,661 in 2019.
Destination Greater Victoria recently launched a virtual 360-degree virtual facilities tour on its website to help with conference sales.
Two new directors for United Way
United Way Southern Vancouver Island has named two new directors to its leadership team.
Lori Angelini was named director of development and Joji Ishikawa the director of finance and operations.
Angelini brings knowledge and experience in fundraising, with a specialty in major gifts. Accredited as a certified fundraising executive, she has professional experience that includes building fundraising programs from the ground up.
Ishikawa, a chartered professional accountant, has professional experience in the roles of senior accountant, controller, operations manager and general manager across businesses and organizations in multiple industries.
“I am delighted to welcome Lori and Joji to our leadership team,” said Erika Stenson, United Way Southern Vancouver Island’s executive director, in a statement. “They share some significant characteristics, including deep professional experience, impressive leadership skills, a comprehensive understanding of the region’s social care landscape, and a commitment to community building.”
United Way also recently promoted two current staff members. Rachel Carroll was appointed to the role of senior grants officer and Abby Drimmie to the role of major gifts officer.
