Skills Centre executive director receives King’s Coronation Medal

The Skills Centre’s executive director, Morag Carter, has received the King’s Coronation Medal for her contributions to the community, province and nation.

Under her leadership, the Skills Centre spent three years and $6.5 million, from 2021 through 2024, purchasing a pair of buildings in downtown trail and completing a massive renovation project to make their new office building the most sustainable and accessible building in the city.

While Carter accepted the Coronation Medal, she said it really belonged to everyone involved in the project.

“Our vision for this building was simple and yet profound. We wanted to invest in Trail and to show that a solid local investment could also benefit the region,” she said. “We wanted to create a space that was warm and welcoming and available to share with other not for profits, community groups and residents.”

“And since our primary business – and the Skills Centre’s reputation – is built on helping Kootenay and Boundary residents find their purpose and build their careers, we needed to ensure that the renovation of this great building helped to build local skills and local careers.”

“I’m happy to report that we achieved all of our goals,” she added.

Carter received the medal from Richard Cannings, MP for South-Okanagan—West Kootenay, at a ceremony in Castlegar on March 4.

We have created a space that is fully accessible and inclusive that is on track to reduce its carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions by more than half. A century’s worth of toxic substances have been removed, and over 130 people, many of them just starting their careers, found employment and learned new skills working on this massive renovation.

These complex projects require a lot more than an initial vision: they require the dedicated support of a large team of people. Our team includes:

• our many funders, including the federal government that provided significant funding through the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings fund and without which we could not have proceeded
• the contractors who shared the vision and led the project – Hil-Tech Contracting and all their local and regional sub-contractors
• the Skills Centre staff who were involved in every aspect of the building reconstruction
• and the unwavering support of our board of directors

“It is projects like these, employing local talent, using as many made in Canada products as possible to enhance community assets that make us resilient,” Carter concluded.

Watch the videos about our eco-renovation here.