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"The more we can do, the happier we are."

That was the message Phil Lindsay, general manager of Community Futures Thompson Country brought to Clearwater town council last Tuesday evening.

"I want to make the new council and the community aware of what Community Futures is," he said.

According to Lindsay, Community Futures is a federally incorporated, not-for-profit society dedicated to assist small business by providing training, consulting services and access to capital.

"We support community development by supporting business development," he said.

The general manager estimated that Community Futures Thompson Country had given out $20 million in loans and created 2,100 jobs during the more than 20 years it has existed. It is one of more than 30 Community Futures societies across B.C.

His organization has helped almost $1 million in loans and matching funds be invested in the Clearwater area over the past three years, said Lindsay.

Local projects that Community Futures has been involved with include the Clearwater Center Plan, local trail building, Wells Gray Community Forest's business plan, Clearwater Farmer's Market and producing a community profile.

WATERSHEDS AND MOUNTAIN PINE BEETLE

A Ministry of Forests researcher gave Clearwater council some valuable information about the effect of the mountain pine beetle on watersheds across the province, plus a few locally specific details specific to the local water source.

"It means more water, more quickly, more often," said Kamloops-based research hydrologist Rita Wickler.

Mountain pine beetle is affecting large portions of many watersheds, she said.

This district has not been hit as hard as some others, because we have large areas of mixed forest.

There is no qualitative data in this area, but the best guess is that, as a result of pine beetle killing trees, there will be more water in the ground and more flowing down the hillsides. Snow will melt earlier, resulting in higher streamflows that are more compressed in time.

"The one hundred dollar question is: Does it matter if we leave the standing dead?" she said.

Leaving trees after the beetles kill them, rather than salvaging them, gives more protection to a watershed for the first few years. After 15 years or so, however, this has to be balanced against the protective effect of a new forest growing up from trees planted after a salvage operation.

Winkler said she had flown over Clearwater's watershed for the first time that day. There is some beetle kill in the watershed, she reported, but also quite a few trees of other species besides pine.

Winkler noted that the McLure Fire resulted in major channel changes about five years after the event.

Councilor Ken Kjenstad asked Winkler if she could make any recommendations on how to handle the beetle kill in the watershed.

The hydrologist replied that 50 per cent of her time is spent giving operational advice to companies, communities and individuals. She can be reached by calling 250-828-4162.

DOCTOR SEARCH CONTINUES

Clearwater now has doctors lined up to assist the two local physicians until December, reported Mayor John Harwood.

There have been some inquires from doctors interested in possibly moving to the community, but nothing definite.

"The good thing is Barriere, our neighbors to the south, now have two doctors, and could have a third shortly," said Harwood.

The major difference is Clearwater has a hospital that requires doctors to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while Barriere only has a clinic.

Harwood added that the local doctor search committee has received $34,000 from the North Thompson economic development advisory committee (EDAC) to help its efforts.

COUNCIL SUPPORTS THE DISASTER COMMITTEE

At the request of Grant Gale from the Wells Gray Country Emergency Support Group, council agreed to reimburse the group $929 for upgrading the wiring for the upstairs office in the municipal building.

The group, which coordinates local services during a disaster, is moving out to make way for the municipality, which needs the space. They are looking for a new base location, said Gale.

Community Futures East Kootenay (CFEK) wants the valley to know that it's ready when you are to help start the business of your dreams.

Established over 20 years ago, CFEK's aim is to provide the funding and guidance needed to get those in our community back into the workforce.

"I took it in 2002 and it was absolutely fabulous," says Nancy Phair.

The budding entrepreneur launched her company, Ground Elements Landscape Services, after attending the organization's 10-week business course in Cranbrook.

Phair says the course not only showed her how to start a business, but made the students streamline and research whether the business would be viable in their community.

As a successful graduate, Phair is now acting as a liaison for the program. And when she's not out pruning her customers' gardens, Phair is available to those interesting in pursuing the course.

In order to be eligible, applicants must be unemployed, on leave or have met these requirements up to three years prior.

Those receiving government compensation will continue to be financially supplemented by the program, however Phair stresses the monies will be earned.

"You can't get into the program unless you have a clear idea of what you're going to do."

Once accepted, course goers will spend the first two weeks of the program designing a business plan.

Next the group will work on narrowing their location and product or service to their community.

After researching their proposed business plan, Phair says some may come to the realization that their business concept won't fly.

These students are encouraged to make reassessments on their business scheme and return to the program with their revisions.

With a perfected proposal in hand, students' next steps are to make the outline a reality.

Those who are unlikely to receive the financing to get their business started, or have been rejected, can apply to CFEK for a loan to get their dreams underway.

"If you think you have a solid business idea we will you get there."

For more local information please contact Phair at 250-342-1594.

The North Okanagan could eventually become a major transportation hub.

The federal government announced Friday that it will provide $65,000 for a study looking at a possible inland port somewhere in the North Okanagan.

"The potential impact of such a facility is enormous," said Colin Mayes, Okanagan-Shuswap MP.

An inland port would be used to transfer commercial goods from trucks and trains as they are shipped to the ocean port at Prince Rupert.

"It could be a large staging area or smaller transfer area that can hand off goods from one form of transport to another," said Jerry Oglow, North Okanagan Regional District chairman.

Oglow believes that the North Okanagan's proximity to the U.S. is beneficial.

"We're right on Highway 97 and we have rail right on our doorstep," he said.

The study will look at a number of issues including three possible locations and whether the railway companies and provincial government would invest in an inland port. The study will also consider the costs and potential benefits.

A consultant will be hired, and it's anticipated that the study will be completed by March.

Besides the federal government, NORD is providing $5,200 towards the study, while $7,800 is coming from Community Futures.

"It will be the first of several phases to come," said Oglow, who says the port could bolster economic development.

"It would create fairly good-paying jobs."

The $65,000 is part of the federal government's efforts to help communities cope with the pine beetle infestation.

Forty per cent of the wealth in the North Okanagan is related to the forest sector.

"There are companies that sell tires, equipment or fuel. It's not just the guys cutting down trees," said Wayne Lippert, Vernon's mayor.

Jane Lister, Community Futures general manager, is pleased that economic diversification is being tackled as the North Okanagan's population continues to grow.

"Initiatives that assist transportation issues are important now," she said.

It's difficult to get too excited about a government study because too many times they end up being just that - a report that leads to nowhere.

So it was with some cynicism that we greet the federal government's announcement Friday that a study will look at the feasibility of an inland port somewhere in the North Okanagan.

Although Okanagan-Shuswap MP Colin Mayes enthusiastically proclaimed a major transportation hub for the area could be potentially 'enormous,' it's as far from being a reality as a real port on Okanagan Lake.

However, the idea has merit.

A so-called inland port that linked the ocean port of Prince Rupert with the rest of the Interior through the North Okanagan may make sense for a variety of reasons. The possibility to create a staging area locally for goods travelling by rail or truck to Prince Rupert sounds doable.

The study will look at the costs and potential benefits, as well as whether the provincial government and the railways will come on board. It will also look at three possible locations.

The North Okanagan Regional District and Community Futures are already onside with funding and the prerequisite enthusiasm.

"We're right on Highway 97 and we have rail right on our doorstep," proclaimed NORD chairman Jerry Oglow.

The federal money is coming from the program to help communities cope with pine beetle devastation. And seeing how a significant portion of the local economy is connected with the forestry sector, we deserve our due.

However, let's hope this study on becoming a possible transportation hub drives forward into a reality and doesn't stall at the study stage.

The B.C. government promises to save small business owners travel costs to training programs, thanks to a new video-conferencing technology unveiled last week at locations throughout the province.

The technology is geared to level the playing field between rural businesses and those in the Lower Mainland, by providing easy, local access to training and development programs offered by Small Business BC.

The government contributed $305,000 to link up nine Ministry of Agriculture and Lands offices and five federal Community Futures offices to a service based in the Vancouver office of the non-profit Small Business BC.

"Providing access to [these] opportunities in Vancouver will help businesses in rural and resource dependent communities grow more effectively," said Patrick Marshall, chief governance officer for Small Business BC.

Previously, business owners would need to send employees to the Lower Mainland for these programs at their own expense.

The province underscored the potential of this technology by launching the service through a simultaneous media event in 15 B.C. communities, including Smithers, in real time. Joined by countless journalists and government staff, Four Ministers and several MLAs were present in various locations for the unveiling.

"Small business accounts for about 95 per cent of the businesses in the province of B.C.," said Bulkley Valley Stikine MLA Dennis MacKay.

"This is certainly going to cut down on travel costs for small business, as well as government employees."

The service can also connect users to a larger network of video conferencing sites across the province and Canada, through the Community Futures offices.

The Province hopes the network will move forward its agenda of developing the lacking export market, and aiding succession planning for small business, as up to half of current owners are getting ready to retire in the next few years. The government also celebrated the service as one to cut the province's carbon footprint by reducing dependancy on air travel.

The conference seminars are free to businesses, and accessible in smithers at the FrontCounter BC office. Twenty new sites are planned in the coming years. To access programs through the new video conferencing service, first visit www.smallbusinessbc.ca for program and seminar lists.

The provincial government has launched a network of videoconferencing sites, a service designed to cut the cost of delivering business training to communities outside Vancouver and Victoria.

The program was officially launched with video-linked news conferences in Kamloops, Nanaimo, Penticton, Quesnel, Prince George, Victoria and Vancouver

Links are also available in Cranbrook, Fort St. John, Smithers, Surrey, Williams Lake, Dawson Creek, Prince Rupert and Vernon.

The government contributed $305,000 to link nine Ministry of Agriculture and Lands offices and five federal Community Futures offices to a service based in the Vancouver office of the non-profit Small Business B.C.

Small Business and Revenue Minister Rick Thorpe said his next objective is to expand it to 20 more communities around the province.

The service allows small businesses to deliver training without having key employees away and facing increasing travel costs, he said.

Coralee Oakes, a Quesnel councillor and manager of the chamber of commerce, said the biggest problem with offering training in smaller communities is getting enough participants at one time to pay for the program.

"And the result is we either have to wait until we have the necessary people to fill the seats to break even, or we have to regionalize training," Oakes said.

"This would cost businesses in the travel, it would cost businesses the time out of their business, and it costs the environment with greenhouse gas emissions."

One of the most pressing needs is succession planning for small business, with up to half of current owners getting ready to retire in the next few years.

Marketing programs are another use, and in the future companies may use teleconferencing to conduct job interviews, with hiring committees using the technology to quiz out-of-town applicants.

Education Minister Shirley Bond said business meetings are a natural use for teleconferencing, but the pioneering work has been done in schools and medical facilities.

Specialty courses are offered through videoconferencing to schools that don't have enough students to offer a course, and even some medical appointments can be done online to save people from travelling long distances to see a doctor.

Nanaimo-Parksville MLA Ron Cantelon said his community is hosting an under-17 hockey tournament, the type of project that would be helped in the planning stages when far-flung participants need to work together on organizing.

Teleconferencing has been around for 20 years or more, but costs have been significantly reduced with the development of high-speed Internet and Internet-based phone systems that don't pile up long distance charges.

Small businesses in B.C. will soon be getting some in office assistance via video conferencing.

A new system being distributed to 33 locations across B.C. including Penticton, provides small businesses and business owners with the opportunity to participate in training, conferences and seminars without having to leave town.Rick Thorpe, minister of small business and revenue, participated in a provincewide conference call on Tuesday to help demonstrate what the technology is capable of.

Thorpe is pleased that the system, which has been mainly used in Vancouver and Victoria, is spreading to the rest of the province and is certain that it will catch on quickly.

"I believe rooms will be full every time," said Thorpe, who was participating in the call from Vancouver. "I predict 5,000 participants by Dec. 31."

Thorpe believes that the video conferencing will help the more than 315,000 small businesses across B.C. grow.

"Small business needs to grow if B.C. wants to grow," said Thorpe.

The technology being used is relatively new as far as video conferencing goes -- the call takes place using an IP address so there are no long-distance charges.

According to Nathan Waters from Small Business B.C., the technology has endless possibilities eventually being able to move into the home so that you don't even have to leave the house to participate in seminars and training.

The system is also available for uses other than seminars and training. For $100 an hour, or $300 for a half day, the room and equipment at Community Futures Okanagan Similkameen can be rented for whatever purpose. The Penticton location recently rented the facility out for a job interview between a local company and a Calgary applicant who was not able to be in Penticton personally.

To find out about seminars and training sessions and to register, visit and follow the 'training/events' link on the home page.

Su Baker (left) and MaryEllen Heidt, both employees of Community futures in Penticton, participate in a province-wide conference call on Tuesday. The video conference was set up to demonstrate the abilities of a new system being introduced to small businesses throughout B.C.

North Island businesses have access to a new tool to make their jobs easier and less expensive.

The Community Futures Mount Waddington office in Port McNeill now offers video conferencing for people who want to make connections without travelling.

"It's been a long-term process getting this up and running," says Community Futures manager Evelyn Clark. "We've been working on it for nigh on a year."

Now that it is operational, North Islanders can conference face to face with people all over the province and even Canada wide through the system.

"The technology is quite excellent," says Clark. "It is very sharp. Very clear. Video conferencing is miles ahead of teleconferencing because you can see people, how they are responding and what they are doing."

Clark says the technology has a number of applications for North Island businesses that could result in significant savings.

"One of the most useful pieces of this is around training," explains Clark. "We can hook a computer up to it and you can see the computer screen." She points out it would save hundreds of dollars in travel costs to training sessions down Island.

The same savings would translate for interviewing prospective employees from outside the North Island region. Often people apply to work here from Vancouver, Victoria or further afield but the cost of having them come to the North Island for an interview is prohibitive.

"It's very exciting, we ask them to pop into a Community Futures office for an interview through video conferencing," says Clark.

A network of 33 Community Futures offices are on the system and businesses can book to use the conference room for meetings.

Clark says her staff have been using the video conferencing in house and it has been quite successful.

"It is very easy to use," says Clark who says all of her staff have been trained to use it.

The video conferencing room should be booked in advance. The fees for use are $100 per hour per site during regular business hours, $120 after 6 p.m. weeknights, $140 on Saturdays. Community Futures offices are closed on Sundays.

There is a 50 per cent discount for non-profit groups and other discounts for small businesses and bulk purchases.

For more information, see the Community Futures website at www.communityfutures.ca/provincial/bc or call the Community Futures Mount Waddington office in Port McNeill at 956-2220.

Community Futures British Columbia has gone high-tech.

The B.C. Community Futures Video Conferencing Network was launched this week in 32 locations in rural and remote communities across the province.

The network, funded by more than $80,000 from the federal government, allows community leaders, industry, small businesses, non-profit organizations and Community Futures staff to network and share information in a more cost-effective manner.

Video conferencing provides communities with enhanced access to training opportunities and staff recruitment, reduced meeting expenses and more opportunities to share information.

The network includes 32 Community Futures site, the Women's Enterprise Centre, Small Business B.C. and nine front counter locations.

Courtenay took centre stage at the launch of a new video conferencing network for British Columbia on Wednesday.

As more than 30 locations linked together for the inauguration of the service, two speakers from the local area broadcast to audiences in towns across the province.

They were Dianne Hawkins, executive director of the Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce; and Layne Marshal, chair of the board of Community Futures Strathcona, which covers the local area.

The new B.C. Community Futures Video Conferencing Network represents the largest public access network in the province, with its local outlet being above the Comox Valley Art Gallery in Duncan Street, Courtenay.

Other locations served include places as far apart as Prince Rupert on the northern coast, Cranbrook in the Kootenays and Dawson Creek in the Peace River area. <o:p></o:p>

Four other locations on Vancouver Island - Port McNeill, Nanaimo, Duncan and Port Alberni - are among the initial 32 in the group, which is expected to grow in the months ahead.

The new system will enable communities in more rural and remote areas as well as some larger towns to connect easily, either as a specific group of locations or simply one-to-one.

Local Community Futures general manager Marc Crane commented: "It will provide enhanced access to training opportunities, reduced meeting expenses and an innovative way for businesses and communities to access an interactive marketplace."

Those points were also stressed by Hawkins, who will become president of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce Executive in September.

She said the local Chamber was very excited about the initiative.

"We want to be part of it every step of the way and will promote it actively," she said.

The new network was an important addition to the business infrastructure of the Comox Valley, she added, providing terrific opportunities not only for many of the 700 Chamber members but also the wider community.

Marshal said the network's establishment - made possible with federal government funds - was an innovative venture for Community Futures, which was better known for providing loans and training programs to help new entrepreneurs and growing businesses create jobs.

He hoped the network would be of real use to local government, educational institutions and non-profit organizations as well as businesses, and looked forward to its future expansion to places like Campbell River.

Vancouver, B.C. – The Government of Canada is increasing access to training and improving business development by funding the establishment of a video conferencing network that will link communities across British Columbia.

Funding of $484,972 was announced today by James Moore, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics.

“Our Government is committed to strengthening the economy of rural communities and helping businesses compete in the global marketplace,” said MP Moore, on behalf of the Honourable Rona Ambrose, President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of Western Economic Diversification. “This investment will improve the B.C. marketplace, making distance communication and learning easier for local entrepreneurs and residents.”

Community Futures British Columbia is coordinating the network, which will place video conferencing services in 27 Community Futures across British Columbia, and in the Women’s Enterprise Centre (see Backgrounder for a list of locations). As a result, local residents will have new access to valuable e-learning seminars and workshops. The technology will also provide local businesses with a strong resource through which they can expand business networks, increase productivity and save money on travel.

"The B.C. Video Conferencing Initiative will provide communities across B.C. with increased opportunities, whether it be through enhanced training, reduced meeting costs, staff recruitment - the possibilities are limitless,” said Bob Wright, Chair of Community Futures British Columbia. "This initiative demonstrates the commitment of the federal government to rural B.C., and has enabled Community Futures to be technological leaders in their communities."

Established in 1992, Community Futures British Columbia represents 33 offices located throughout rural British Columbia. These offices foster local entrepreneurship and promote, coordinate and implement a variety of community development initiatives within their respective communities. Community Futures offices are part of WD’s Western Canada Business Service Network, representing more than 100 points of service across the West.

Established in 1995 as an initiative of WD, Women’s Enterprise Centre is the leading resource for BC women entrepreneurs seeking business loans, skills training, business advisory services, resources, publications and referrals. With offices and business advisors throughout the province, they provide essential resources and services designed to build business capacity and fuel success. Women’s Enterprise Centre is a member of WD’s Western Canada Business Service Network.

Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) is a department of the Government of Canada that works in partnership with the provinces, industry associations and communities to stimulate and encourage diversification of the western economy. It also represents the interests of the West in national decision-making.

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For additional information, contact:

Jackie Stewart
Communications Advisor
Western Economic Diversification Canada
Vancouver, B.C.
Tel: (604) 666-7543
Toll-Free Number: 1 888 338-WEST (9378)
Web Site: WD is online at www.wd-deo.gc.ca

Cordelia Williams
Project Manager
Community Futures British Columbia
Vancouver, BC
Tel: (604) 685-2332

A stronger West. A stronger Canada