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Keeping it under wraps

B.C. company hopes to help with “Look of the Games” in Whistler and Vancouver

Whistler and Vancouver are going to get all dressed up for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Vancouver’s concrete day look will be replaced by flash and fancy as everything from buildings to buses get “wrapped” with Olympic images and logos. Whistler will colour up as well.

“I think it will look excellent,” said Barry Parkinson, business development manger for 3M’s B.C. division.

“There will likely be large graphics of skiers and ‘Look of the Games’ imagery set against the background of Whistler or the skyline of Vancouver. It is going to look really, really neat and we are so excited about the whole opportunity, for sure.”

3M Canada is a tier-three sponsor in the graphics supply category for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Games.

Wraps can take many forms. They can adhere to skyscrapers, they can be banners that hang over the edge of buildings, and they can transform any vehicle into a piece of moving art and information.

B.C. has already seen what can be accomplished with wraps on the recently unveiled BC Ferries. They were done by family-owned, Coquitlam-based company, Ampco.

President Dann Konkin hopes there will be more opportunities for his company from the Games.

“We certainly hope that it will be a great opportunity for us to showcase the work that we do,” he said.

“We are proud to be part of what 3M are working on and we see it as a great springboard for us to get our work out there and to get known a little bit more.”

Ampco also does the Canucks wrap at GM Place. It first approached 3M a couple for years ago looking for opportunities to help out with the Games.

If 3M has its way the wraps won’t be just a local affair.

“What we are hoping to do is to help make these Canada’s Games and have buildings wrapped in other parts of Canada and in other cities,” said Parkinson.

“We have had talks with a number of sponsors already who are interested in doing that.”