Williams Lake/Quesnel/Ashcroft, B.C. – December 19, 2017 – For immediate release
Businesses and non-profit organizations in wildfire affected communities in the Cariboo-Chilcotin/Lillooet area will soon have additional support thanks to a partnership between Northern Development Initiative Trust (NDIT), Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC Cariboo Chilcotin, CFDC North Cariboo and CFDC Sun Country) and the Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition (CCBAC).
Back row from the left: Simon Turner, Andre Kuerbis Front row from the left: Laurie Rice, Alex Minshull (Red Cross), Alisha Piccolo, Renata King (Northern Development Director of Business Development), Karen Eden (Community Futures Cariboo Chilcotin), Wendy Coomber, Sue Lachance Very front: Deanne Hoversland
Thanks to this partnership, an Emergency Response Coordinator and Business Ambassadors will work from CFDC offices in Quesnel, Williams Lake and Ashcroft until October 31st, 2018 to help businesses access resources to help with wildfire recovery.
As a result of the worst wildfire season in provincial history, many businesses in the Cariboo-Chilcotin and Thompson-Nicola regions are struggling to recover, reopen and generate revenue.
While many programs and services already exist or have recently been established to assist with wildfire recovery efforts, accessing these resources can be a daunting and time consuming task for business owners who are busy managing their day-to-day operations.
The new positions will help businesses assess the impact of the wildfires on their operations, match their needs to available programs and services, assist with appropriate referrals and application processes and collect information that can help communities better understand the wildfire impacts in order to support new program development.
These positions will be working in collaboration with other wildfire response programs to complement and promote resources available through organizations such as Emergency Management BC, the Red Cross and the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.
Community Futures welcomed the new staff members earlier this month:
- Emergency Response Coordinator, Sue Lachance
- Business Ambassadors – Ashcroft, Angela Bissat, Wendy Coomber, Andre Kuerbis
- Business Ambassador – Quesnel, Laurie Rice, Simon Turner
- Business Ambassadors – Williams Lake, Deanne Hoversland, Alisha Piccolo
The Community Futures Wildfire Recovery Business Support program will begin working with businesses starting January 2018.
The positions are funded with $200,000 from Northern Development, $140,000 from the Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition and $56,000 from Community Futures Development Corporation.
Northern Development’s board allocated the funds for the program to support communities who were not only hit by recent wildfires, but were also among some of the hardest hit by pine beetle infestation in previous years.
Quotes
Evan Saugstad, Chair, Northern Development Initiative Trust
Northern Development is very pleased to be able to provide assistance to the businesses and organizations in the Cariboo-Chilcotin and Thomson-Nicola regions affected by the wildfires this past year. The Trust’s partnership with Community Futures and the CCBAC on this project, in conjunction with the recovery efforts being made across central B.C., will help ensure that the organizations affected by the wildfires will receive sufficient support in accessing the resources available to them. This program will play a key role in ensuring the success of the economic recovery efforts being made across the region and will be essential in facilitating important information to impacted businesses and organizations.
Karen Eden, General Manager, Community Futures Development Corporation, Cariboo-Chilcotin
Community Futures is excited to be involved with this project. The challenge for businesses and not-for-profit organizations is understanding and accessing appropriate resources. The one-on-one assistance provided by the business ambassadors will help to ensure that businesses are able to effectively and efficiently access programs and services that will assist with staying open and having ongoing sustainability.
Jim Rivett, Chair, Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition
CCBAC is delighted to Partner with NDIT and Community Futures in this venture. Adding the business expertise that community Future is known for will strengthen the recovery activities of the various municipalities and the Cariboo Regional District.
About Northern Development Initiative Trust
Northern Development Initiative Trust combines funding with smart thinking to help Northern British Columbia thrive. The Trust was created for the north and is led by the north. Since 2005, Northern Development has found more than 2,700 ways to say “yes” to economic diversification in our region, attracting more than $1.3 billion in new investment to the region.
About Community Futures Development Corporation
Community Futures organizations are throughout Rural BC and Canada with a mandate for small business and community economic development. They are a non-profit community business financing organization created to support small and medium sized enterprises throughout rural BC, paving the way for diversified local economies and job creation.
About the Cariboo-Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition
Since 2005, the Cariboo Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition (CCBAC) has actively served the economic interests of the Cariboo-Chilcotin Region. Originally established by community leaders to mitigate the devastating ecological, social, and economic effects of the Mountain Pine Beetle, CCBAC has been instrumental in working to diversify the local economy and offset those impacts. The organization, having successfully fulfilled its original mandate, restructured in early 2016 to begin a 2-year wind-down period towards dissolution by December 2017.
In response to the unprecedented 2017 wildfire season and its impact on the region, and as part of the organization’s final legacy, CCBAC is pleased to contribute their remaining funding to the Community Futures Emergency Response Coordinator and Business Ambassadors for their important work in the Region.
Contacts
Karen Eden
Community Futures Cariboo Chilcotin
General Manager
250-392-3626
karen@cfdccariboo.com
Greg Lawrence
Community Futures North Cariboo
General Manager
250-992-2322
greg@cfquesnel.com
Deb Arnott
Community Futures Sun Country
General Manager
250-453-9165
darnott@cfsun.ca
