Future car shines at SEMA 2009

The Maple Ridge based Future Vehicle Technologies (FVT) has returned from the SEMA show in Las Vegas feeling more confident than ever with their innovate e-varo future vehicle .

Not only was this one of the best car shows they have attended, it was also the first "summit" for all 43 X-Prize teams. Twelve teams displayed their vehicles at the show so it was their first chance to get a close look at the competition.

Todd Pratt of FVT had this to say about their experience at SEMA "FVT 's multi-prong approach of building the eVaro and dozens of new "under-the-hood" technologies separates us from most EV companies internationally. We just can't bring ourselves to build the car of the future with antiquated parts."

To learn more about FVT contact Todd at mailto:info@futurevehicletechnologies.com

YouTube of e-varo at recent Maple Ridge Economic Summit http://www.youtube.com/user/FVTgroup#p/a/u/0/P2KlZymzmHQ

In other FVT news: Jeremy Cato also wrote a great article about FVT for CTV News.ca . Says Tood Pratt of FVT, "Although he has been around new cars, concept cars, etc. for years, he was genuinely impressed with the eVaro and our accomplishments to date. Thanks to Jeremy for tipping his hat. It is now our job to prove to the world exactly what the eVaro is capable of."  http://www.ctvnews.ca/

WestJet sale - The temperature is dropping and so are the fares.

Hey, did you hear about the great sale WestJet has on right now? 

Westjet invites you to save on Canadian travel.


Details: Book by December 1, 2009 for travel Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays until March 31, 2010
Blackout dates:  between December 18, 2009 and January 4, 2010.

Save valuable time by choosing the convenience of Abbotsord International Airport for your departure.

http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/travelOffers/seatSale1.shtml?s_cid=DOM_SeatSale_20091127

For directions and other information about Abbotsford International Aiport visit http://www.abbotsfordairport.ca/

Haney Farmers Market Winter Market

Haney Farmers Market Winter Market is filled with twinkling lights and the sweet smell of freshly cut pine.

Christmas cake, shortbread, butter tarts, mincemeat tarts, pies, preserves, chocolates and homemade bread are all in plentiful supply. Root vegetables will be on hand along with eggs, beef, lamb and seafood. More beautiful crafts and art from which to choose for your Christmas shopping.

The Salvation Army is providing breakfast wraps, beef and tofu dogs along with crispy chips to be enjoyed with music by Nigel Tucker, CJ Zigante and Rory McRury.

Have a silly Santa photo taken and donate to the "children helping children" fund of Odyssey Community School. Tickets for Breakfast with Santa on Dec 12 will be available for $5 which includes a picture with Santa.


When:     Saturday, December 5, 2009  from 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Where:    St. Andrew's Haney United Church ( Dewdney Trunk and 222 Streets) downtown Maple Ridge

Christmas Night Market & Santa Parade

The Downtown Maple Ridge Business Improvement Association (BIA) proudly presents the First Annual Old Fashioned Family Christmas Market.

You and your family are invited to join in the fun. We'll have hot roasted chestnuts, warm apple cider and other yummy treats, a festive Christmas treasure hunt with prizes, balloons, fantastic Christmas gift ideas, music and lots of Christmas Cheer!

Date:     Saturday December 5, 2009
Time:    4:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Place:     In the covered parking area on the north side of Memorial Peace Park (behind Rogers Video)

Note: This market coincides with the popular Christmas Festival and Santa Parade

Get in the Christmas spirit!!!

The Emerald Pig Theatrical Society invites you to join them for Christmas Caroling in the Park.

Come sing with us on Saturday, December 5th before the Santa Claus Parade.

Memorial Peace Park - Maple Ridge.

• Costumes provided!!
• Free hot chocolate!!
• Chili and wine at Sharon's afterwards!!

There will a rehearsal this Sunday, Nov. 29th at the Pitt Meadows Family Rec Center on Harris Road at 1:00 p.m.

Call: 604-785-1405 for details

2009 - 2010 BIA Board of Directors

Congratulations to the new slate of Directors of the DownTown Maple Ridge Business Improvment Association:

• Anil Bharwani - President
• Tammy Diniz  - Vice President and Chair of Beautification and Revitilization
• Deddy Geese - Chair of events and Marketing
• Linda Dodd - Secretary
• Racine Barbour 
• Ernie Beaudin - Past President  
• Bob Jones - Chair of Safety and Security Committee 
• Rob Gagne - Treasurer

visit the BIA online at http://www.downtownmapleridge.ca/ or call 604-467-2420 for information

UBC Loon Lake ideal venue for staff holiday parties!

The staff at the beautiful Loon Lake facility at the UBC Reserach Forest in Maple Ridge invite you to consider their venue for your special holiday lunch or dinner party. Book today for your group of 12 people or more people. Choose from a traditional roasted turkey dinner with all the fixings to a slow roasted triple A prime rib dinner from $25 per person. Lunch from $17 per person.

Chamber members save 10%. Holiday offer available Monday to Friday, November and December 2009. Additional menus to choose from. Call Andrea Cresdee at 604-463-8149 to book your special holiday event or email your inquiry to loon.lake@ubc.ca

2010 - 2014 Council Business Planning Schedule

Chief Administrative Officer Jim Rule and senior staff at the District of Maple Ridge invite you to attend the 2010 - 2014 Business Plan presentations to Council.

When:             November 30 and December 1, 2009
Time:              9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Where:            Maple Ridge Council Chambers
                       11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge

Details available online at http://www.mapleridge.ca/

Be a DEER. Volunteer!

Operation Red Nose needs drivers, navigators, phone operators and dispatchers. Antlers optional.

Operation Red Nose is a confidential designated driver service. Motorists are driven home safely in their own car. Nights of service: November 27, 28 and December 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19 and 31

Call 604-515-NOSE(6673) or email ridge-meadows@operationrednose.com

Help keep our roadways safe this holiday.

Pacific Sport Fraser Valley host of Operation Red Nose Ridge-Meadows wishes to thank their sponsors THE NEWS, Ridge Meadows RCMP, ICBC, EPR Certified General Accountants and CTV

Mayor and Council host BIA

Wednesday, November 18 Mayor Daykin and Council will host the Downtown Maple Ridge Business Improvement Association 5 X 5 networking session. Refreshments will be served. Event begins at 5:30 with Jim Rule, Chief Administrative Officer who will be giving a brief presentation about the District, highlighting the Our Spirit. Our Town partnership between the BIA, District and Chamber. Mayor and Council will be on hand to answer questions. Event is free to the public however registration is required by November 17. RSVP 604-467-2420 or rsvp@downtownmapleridge.ca 

Future car steals the show

A last minute ‘walk on’ who stole the show at the recent Maple Ridge Economic Summit was Future Vehicle Technologies (FVT) with their revolutionary vehicle called the “eVaro”.

Team FVT who were on their way to Las Vegas the next day to compete for $10 Million in the X-prize competition delighted delegates who had the chance to get up close and personal with the eVaro. FVT is a “Clean Tech” company who have developed this 3-wheeled plug in series hybrid designed to be the ultimate combination of efficiency, super low emissions, and high performance. “After 3 years, 4 cars and hundreds of revisions we are very excited to compete with the other teams who all have one goal in mind: make cars better” said Todd Pratt who introduced eVaro at the Summit.

With documented efficiency of 165mpge highway and 275mpge city along with sports car performance, we wish Team FVT continued success! For more information and to see Youtube video of the vehicle visit FVT online at http://www.futurevehicletechnologies.com/

View youtube of the e-varo at the Summit  http://www.youtube.com/user/FVTgroup#p/a/u/0/P2KlZymzmHQ

Nearly Neal helps show appreciation for Ridge Meadows Hospital staffers

A group of long time Maple Ridge residents and businessmen have joined together to host a very special appreciation evening for all the employees, staff and volunteers at Ridge Meadows Hospital. On Friday, November 13th they have hired Nearly Neil and the Solitary Band, a well know Neil Diamond cover act, for a special show at the ACT theatre.

The evening, which will start with a wine and appetizers reception, is free to everyone from the custodial team through to the Chief of Medical staff.

Organizers of the event, Dave Boyce of Dave Boyce Insurance, chiropractor Dr Bob Masse and Deddy Geese of Hagen's Travel got the idea while discussing some of the difficulties recently faced in health care. "With issues like government cutbacks, nurse shortages and contracting out; we thought it was a good time for the community to step up and show some support." They feel that an evening out away from the stresses of the work place, for some fun and camaraderie, will help to keep moral high at RMH.

"Every employee at the hospital is an important part of the team, and we think their contributions should be recognized. We'd like each employee to know that the comunity appreciates their professional skills, compassion and caring."

The organizers want to thank other local businesses Johnson Meier Insurance, Marv Jones Honda and Lava Room Restaraunt for contributing to the evening.

Christmas comes to Downtown Maple Ridge

Get into the spirit of the season with upcoming Christmas events:

The Festival of Christmas Trees in the Park (Memorial Peace Park) runs November 30 – December 31. Admire the beautiful trees and vote for your favourite.

December 5 join us for the First Annual Christmas Market 4 – 8 PM and stay for the Christmas Festival and Santa Parade in Memorial Peace Park. The parade starts at 6 PM directly following the “Light up the Town” event when all the festive lights will be dimmed at 5:55, followed with the magic of lighting all the lights at 6 PM sharp! Come and join us for hot chocolate, roasted chestnuts, caroling, family fun and all the Christmas Magic in the air!


December 10 & 11 the DMRBIA is “Turning Wheels for Holiday Meals” in Haney Place Mall; where the BC Hydro Power Smart stationary bike will be keeping the Christmas lights glowing. All proceeds go to the Friends in Need Food Bank.

Shop local for your chance to win!

Shop local for your chance to win in the 3/50 Challenge: Come check out Downtown Maple Ridge and win!

Shop at any downtown store, national chain store or micro-boutique in Downtown Maple Ridge. The idea is to support local stores rather than have those dollars leave the community. You might be pleasantly surprised by their selection and competitive prices. Simply buy a total of $50 worth of goods or services in three downtown Maple Ridge businesses and enter the contest. Prizes include three $50-gift certificates; and a grand prize of $250 will be awarded at the end of the contest.

Visit www.downtownmapleridge.ca for full details.

Downtown Infrastructure Investment

Downtown Infrastructure Improvements continue: The Federal and Provincial Governments and the District Maple Ridge have approved a joint investment of $6,130,465 through the Building Canada Fund and Infrastructure Stimulus Fund to get shovels in the ground on two projects that will benefit local residents by creating jobs, helping to boost the local the economy, and build longer-lasting local infrastructure. $5,605,465 will be used to repair the aging infrastructure in the downtown core which will be addressed by a road and utility rehabilitation project. Work will be done on sanitary and storm sewer drainage systems, road and sidewalks, water distribution system to increase capacity, and expansion of the fibre optic network into downtown. “Maple Ridge is very fortunate to have an historic downtown,” says Mayor Ernie Daykin “District Councils have long recognized how important the downtown is and have invested significantly in preserving and enhancing this area. This funding will allow us to continue our journey toward making the downtown a vibrant, pedestrian friendly and accessible place.” The project which is expected to take about nine months to complete is slated to commence in January 2010.

Member Metro Vancouver Commerce

Metro Vancouver Commerce launches Olympic business initiative: Maple Ridge is proud to be among the nine Metro Vancouver local governments that have joined together as Metro Vancouver Commerce. At a November 9 press event mayors from participating communities announced ‘an unprecedented joint economic initiative to generate economic development for our communities’. For more information visit www.metrovancouvercommerce.com

Economic Summit highlights competitive strengths

Mayor Ernie Daykin, honourary chair of the 2009 Maple Ridge Economic Summit – Best Practices for Connected Communities welcomed a host of esteemed speakers and delegates to the Maple Ridge ACT Theatre October 29 for a full day of informative presentations and networking with some noted leaders from industry, education, government and the private sector. Sessions included a wide range of speakers and panelists including Michelle Scarborough of the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI); Pascal Spothelfer, BCTIA; Karen Chown from the Calgary Economic Development WorkShift program; Ralph Wright of Cisco Systems; Tony Geheran of Telus; an academic panel moderated by John McKendry of Kwantlen Polytechnical University and Rochelle Grayson of rochelle.ca who entertained and informed Summit delegates with her insightful industry-insider perspective.

In her summary comments Rochelle noted that “Maple Ridge is in a unique position to create a strong economic and social community that ties together industry, academia and government.” She went on to add “the Economic Summit really showcased how Maple Ridge can compete globally, can offer a culture of life-long learning and can build a balanced ecosystem that can attract, retain and grow key talent to build both a dynamic business and vibrant social environment.”

Organizers would like to thank our generous sponsors WestJet and Abbotsford International Airport. Tradex, Portrait Homes, BIV Media Group, Connex, Downtown Maple Ridge Business Improvement Association, Shervin Communications and Mainland Contracting. Presentations and links to Summit sponsors are now available online at www.investmapleridge.ca