Spoke w/Joel McKay - Author & Economic Development Professional - Former Journalist & P.R. Executive

Joel and I had a great conversation, it was a chance to get to know Joel McKay a little more. Once we started talking the conversation became very clear that we have the same mindset in many ways. I was excited to speak with Joel. Joel McKay is an economic development professional, author and former public relations executive and journalist. He is based in Prince George, B.C. where he is the CEO of Northern Development, and sits on the boards of the University of Northern B.C. and Destination B.C. Joel is passionate about British Columbia, especially its vast and relatively misunderstood north. His writing focuses on the people, places and issues relevant to northern and rural communities, typically with a healthy dose of the absurd or supernatural. His short story 'Number Hunnerd', a fish tale set in B.C.'s Cariboo, was published in Tyche Books anthology Water: Selkies, Sirens and Sea Monsters in 2021. His novella, Wolf at the Door, was published in the spring of 2022 and focuses on a disastrous family Thanksgiving dinner. His forthcoming fiction, a short western horror story titled 'Hands', will be published by Brigids Gate Press in the summer of 2022. Joel was previously Director, Communications at Northern Development. During that time he led the creation and publication of the 'Small Town PR Playbook', a first-of-its-kind how-to book for rural public relations in Canada that won the Don Rennie Award from the Canadian Public Relations Society for excellence in government communications. Prior to that, he was Assignment Editor at Business in Vancouver Newspaper where his journalism earned him a Jack Webster Award for Business, Industry and Economics in 2011, and a nomination for a second Jack Webster Award for Multimedia Reporting in 2012. He has received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Kwantlen Polytechnic University for his professional achievements, and in 2021 was awarded the Chairman's Award from the B.C. Economic Development Association for his contributions to rural development.