The Community Futures Programis celebrating 25 years of assistingrural Canadians in their work todiversify and grow their communities.

Community Futures (CF) is anational, community-basedeconomic renewal initiative esta-blished by the Federal Governmentin 1985. Its main objectives are tohelp rural Canadians start or

expand a business and to helpsustain and improve communitiesand their local economies.

Each Community Futures officeoperates individually as a non-profitorganization that is governed by alocal Board of Directors whovolunteer their time, knowledge andpassion to guide a team ofprofessional staff, thus enabling

them to provide a wide array ofbusiness and community economicdevelopment services.

These services fall under severalcategories that strengthen anddiversify local economies, whichinclude:

• Business Development, Trainingand Counselling;

• Community Economic Development;

• Small Business Financing.

Rural Canadians can access theseservices through 269 CommunityFutures organizations acrossCanada. In the four westernprovinces, Western EconomicDiversification Canada providessupport to 90 CF organizations (16in Manitoba) to deliver the program.

“My fellow volunteers and I areproud to be part of a network oforganizations that has generatedreal economic benefits for ourcommunities over the past quartercentury” said David Kendall,

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Growing communities one idea at a time.

What’s Inside

A Quarter Century of Serving Rural Canada

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Page 2 Awards honour CF volunteer and initiativePage 5 Brandon Incubator targets knowledge-based businessPage 6 Jerkfish - a new twist on an old favourite

Chairperson of Community FuturesManitoba. “We look forward tocontinuing to work with the Govern-ment of Canada to support ourlocal economies in the future…hopefully for another 25 years!”

Because of the program’s uniqueability to respond to the specificneeds of a region or community,the range of community economicdevelopment projects they havebeen involved in ranges widely. InManitoba some examples include:

• New industry development such asCold Weather Testing in Thompson;

• Tourism development projects like the Gimli waterfront and hotel development, and a cottagedevelopment at Lake Manitoba Narrows;

• Skills development initiatives such as the Canadian AgriculturalSkills Service (CASS), a programwhich was adopted nationally;

• Economic adjustment initiatives,such as the Winnipeg River Learning Centre in Powerview-Pine Falls.

Similarly, Community Futuresprovides entrepreneurs withbusiness development servicesand/or financing to establish orexpand businesses that meet theneeds in their communities liketraditional retail and servicebusinesses. Community Futuresalso fosters innovative businessideas, such as value-added productdevelopment, manufacturing, andknowledge–based businesses.

After a quarter century of proudlyserving rural Canada, the volunteersand staff of Community Futureslook forward to many more yearsof helping to support and grow ourlocal economies.

Community Futures Manitoba ispleased to announce that ChrisLund from the RM of Reynoldsis the winner of the Minister’sAward for Excellence in CommunityFutures Volunteerism and that thePembina Valley Venture Challengehas won the annual Award forExcellence and Innovation.

The awards, sponsored by WesternEconomic Diversification, recognize anoutstanding economic developmentproject undertaken by Manitoba’sCommunity Futures organizationsand the outstanding contributionof an individual in furthering theCommunity Futures program.

“Two of the greatest assets of theCommunity Futures program remainthe volunteers who lend theirexpertise and leadership to ourBoards of Directors and the abilityof each Community Futures officeto develope unique, innovative

solutions to the specific economicdevelopment needs of a communityor region. The recipients of theseawards truly reflect these strengths,”said David Kendall, Chairperson ofCommunity Futures Manitoba.

Chris Lund has served as the volun-teer representative from the RM ofReynolds on the Community FuturesWinnipeg River Board of Directorssince 1995. He has always been astrong advocate for the CommunityFutures Program; through hisextensive network of contacts, andhis involvement in numerous localand regional committees andboards, he has increased awarenessof the Program and has encouragedmany entrepreneurs and communitygroups to avail themselves of itsservices. He takes a particularinterest in ensuring that CF WinnipegRiver meets the needs of aboriginalpeoples, youth, entrepreneurs withdisabilities, and social enterprises.

The Pembina Valley VentureChallenge, which marks a partner-ship between Community FuturesHeartland and numerous otherregional service providers, was anexciting competition modelled afterthe popular television seriesDragons’ Den. For more on theinitiative, see the following article.

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CF Program Quick FactsDid you know Community Futures…• has worked in our communities for more than 25 years;• benefits from the expertise of over 2,200 volunteers;• employs 1,100 staff members;• has assisted over 102,000 clients across Canada;• has injected more than $3.4 billion into the Canadian economy;• has assisted in the creation of over 430,000 jobs.

Annual Minister’s awardspresented to worthy recipients

Chris Lund

It was an idea that had beenbrewing for a while. Ken Reimer,Executive Director of CommunityFutures Heartland – and a fan ofthe hit television show Dragons’ Den– wanted to encourage and promotethe entrepreneurial spirit he knewexisted in the Pembina Valley. Whatbetter way than to host a regionalcompetition modeled after the CBCbusiness show which featuresentrepreneurs pitching their ideasto a group of venture capitalists?

“The TV show was a huge partof the motivation to put on acompetition such as this. I enjoyedwatching contestants try andconvince the judges that their ideawas the best, and wanted to putsome of our bright entrepreneursagainst some judges as well,” saidReimer.

The Venture Challenge was heldin Winkler this past November.Contestants were graded on theirbusiness plans and pitches toa panel of six local judges thatincluded, financial experts, lawyers,marketing experts, accountingexperts as well a successful businesscouple originally from the area whoalso provided a keynote address.

Given the healthy number ofsuccessful entrepreneurs in theregion, Reimer said he wanted tomake some local expertise availableto the winners, so in addition tocash prizes, he added a mentoringcomponent to the contest.

“When we created the prize structure,we said that each judge needed todonate time to the contestants intheir field of expertise. We hopethat with this added feature of the

Manitoba Agriculture, Food andRural Initiatives and Fed Ex. Otherorganizational support came fromthe Town of Morden, the MordenCommunity Development Corporation,the RM of Stanley, the City ofWinkler, Winkler-Stanley DevelopmentCorporation and the Winkler andDistrict Chamber of Commerce.

“Having all of those sponsors andeconomic development agenciespartner with us was a testamentthat we are all working toward thesame goal, that of creating strongerentrepreneurs in our region,” saidReimer.

“We work well together and areable to bring a project like thistogether for the good of the region.Entrepreneurship is strong in ourregion, and we all acknowledge thefact that entrepreneurs needassistance, and anything we cando to help them succeed is a win-win situation.”

The interest and support shown forthe initiative is also one of thereasons the Pembina Valley VentureChallenge is the recipient of thisyear’s Minister’s Award for Excellenceand Innovation. Reimer said thereare plans to hold the contest againnext year.

competition the contestants willincrease their chance of successearly on in their business start up.”

A cash prize of $2,000 plus thementoring went to first placewinners Helen and Lyle Neufeld forSavour the Flavour, a soup deliverybusiness they hope to launch inMorden this April. Helen wasgrateful for the assistance shereceived in developing her plan forthe competition.

“It certainly was a challenge and atone point I thought of dropping it,but the challenge of putting it alltogether and now the extra gleaningof insight from others has been atremendous blessing. 

Reimer said he was pleased withthe quality and diversity of thebusiness plans and added that localinterest and support built significantlyas word of the contest spread.

Second place winner, Lisa Gandierof Alexa Media agreed, adding shehas been receiving inquiries frompotential clients as a result of theexposure.

“The exposure has proven to beextremely positive.  I’ve receivednumerous calls and emails fromcommunity members and businessesregarding the recent competition. It’snot only congratulation messageswe are receiving, we are currentlyfollowing up on sales leads thathave come from exposure in theVenture Challenge.”

In addition to CF Heartland, sponsorsfor the event included Access CreditUnion, the Business DevelopmentBank of Canada, the PembinaValley Development Corporation,

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TV-inspired contest winssupport and award

Winners Helen and Lyle Neufeldfor Savour the FlavourCredit: Pembina Valley Online

Pilots are often credited as beingdaredevils and by launching hisown airline, pilot Tim Sweeny hasproven he’s got the right stuff.

Sweeny saw an opportunity to takethe knowledge he gained througheducation and work experience tocreate an exciting business. It bringstogether the challenging worlds ofaircraft maintenance and aircraftcharters to serve the residents ofNorthern Manitoba.

Sweeny Enterprises Inc. operatingas Creeway Aviation is a privatecorporation solely owned by Sweeny,a member of the Cross Lake Band.Sweeny has over 15 years experiencein the aviation industry and is aLicensed Commercial Airline Pilotwith Multi-Engine and IFR ratings,as well as a Licensed AircraftMaintenance Engineer.

Creeway Aviation first opened itsdoors in February 2007 to offeraircraft maintenance and hangarspace rentals. In April 2009Creeway Aviation purchased aPiper Navajo aircraft to expand theirservices to include aircraft charters.

The airline serves northern Manitobafrom its main base in Thompsonand currently employs four staff.The expansion of Creeway Aviationwas supported by CommunityFutures North Central Developmentand the Entrepreneurs withDisabilities Program, AboriginalBusiness Canada and First PeoplesEconomic Growth Fund.

The expansion also netted him the2009 Aboriginal Business ServiceNetwork (ABSN) Business PlanningCompetition award, which was

presented in Winnipeg at the annualVision Quest Conference.

But awards aside, Sweeny notesthat at Creeway Aviation theybelieve that it is important to giveback to the community and thepeople they serve. CreewayAviation plans several initiativesaimed at providing Aboriginal youthan opportunity for training andemployment in the aviation industry.

Two of these programs include a4-year Aircraft Maintenance Engineerprogram that allows students towork 10 months of the year whileattending school for 9 weeks. Thesecond program involves partneringwith surrounding communities tosponsor several students pursuingcareers as pilots.

By giving them the opportunity foron-the-job experience and thenecessary flight hours required tocomplete their licensing, CreewayAviation will also have a pool of"homegrown" pilots with which tostaff their aircraft.

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The Aboriginal BusinessService Network and AboriginalChamber of Commerce arepleased to present the 7th

Annual Aboriginal BusinessPlan Competition. This year’stheme is Igniting the AboriginalEntrepreneurial Spirit. Winnersin each of the rural and urban(City of Winnipeg) categoriesreceive $5,000 towards startingtheir business!

Last year, the winner in theurban category was DJM GolfServices, a company thatprovides corporate promotionalsales, event management,and golf instruction. The ruralwinner was Creeway Aviation,an air charter service fromThompson, Manitoba.

The deadline for the 2010Aboriginal Business PlanCompetition is Friday,January 28, 2011. People 18years of age or older who planto start a business by April 30,2011or have started a businessafter January 31, 2010 areencouraged to submit theirbusiness plan. For moreinformation and contest detailsvisit our website at:www.absnmanitoba.ca

The Aboriginal BusinessService Network (ABSN) inManitoba offers businessinformation to new and existingAboriginal entrepreneurs. TheABSN in Manitoba is operatedin coordination with CommunityFutures Manitoba and theCanada/Manitoba BusinessService Centre.

Creeway Aviation expandsthe northern skies

2010 BusinessPlan Competition

Sweeney with theBusiness Plan competition award

It’s one of downtown Brandon’snewest features, and a decidedly21st century addition to the city’surban landscape. The WestmanEntrepreneurial Centre is part of anew trend in business development.It’s a business incubator, somethingthat establishes and guides fledglingnew businesses, from birth tofending-for-itself health. The goalis for something that will eventuallybenefit the community with jobs,maybe a little high-tech cachet andjuicier salaries for local employees.

“Brandon’s incubator, in particular,is dedicated specifically to knowledge-based businesses,” says Roger Guy,executive director of CommunityFutures Westman, “and it’sconveniently set up in a buildingowned by the organization, smack-dab downtown.”

“We had this 4,000-ft2 building, andwe were looking for an initiative,”said Guy.

But it still cost money to get theincubator up and running; almostthree-quarters of the funding camefrom the federal government, withmoney from the City of Brandonand Community Futures itselfrounding up the numbers.

The incubator, which opened in thesummer of 2010, has room for 12burgeoning businesses, althoughGuy says he’d be happy with sixtenants at any given time. There isa three-year limit for anybodysetting up shop in the incubator,and when they get a space in thebuilding, they are provided with amultitude of benefits, includingphone and Internet service, furniture,a fax machine/copier, use of a

board room and videoconferencingfacilities, all hitched to month-to-month leases which won’t tie themdown. As well, there are mentorshipopportunities for tenants, who canalso benefit from some otheravailable services.

“We will give them pro bono book-keeping four hours a month,” saidGuy. “Sometimes we find the biggestthing (young entrepreneurs) neglectis bookkeeping.”

Tenants can also get up to 20 hoursof other pro bono services, whetherit’s legal advice or graphic designhelp. There is also a high-octaneadvisory board overseeing things.And all this costs tenants a mere$350 per month. Guy says thatpotential young businesses andthe incubator have to make a goodfit, of course, and tenants needto have some income, but otherthan that, the keys are theirs andthe knowledge-based world is(potentially) their oyster.

Businesses in the EntrepreneurialCentre have to, in exchange, showtheir books every quarter, in casethey expand quickly enough toneed more space. “But kickingsomeone out because they succeedwould be a good problem to have,”said Guy.

The Centre already has their firstofficial tenant, a couple of gentlemenworking on software applications,and Community Futures Westmanis also spreading word throughoutthe community about the Centre.

“We’re making contact withcommittee advisors, giving presen-tations to Brandon University andAssiniboine Community College,”

said Guy. “The Brandon Sun hasbeen very good, too.”

The big goal now is to find tenantsfor the other 11 units, but Guy feelsthey’ve addressed that initial need.

“One of the things we felt weneeded in this community, that wedidn’t have, was a knowledge-based incubator,” said Guy.

And for the City of Brandon, whojust wanted a little businessstimulus, well, they now have anapp for that, too.

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Brandon welcomes its newbusiness incubator

The incubator

Often, a new product is created notbecause absolutely everyone isclamouring for it, but rather, becauseit fills a very particular niche.

Case in point, Chris Dalman’sJerkfish, a Manitoban take on theancient Icelandic snack unfortunatelyknown as hardfish. Of course,Manitoba, with its healthy proportionof Icelandic descendents, is aperfect place to introduce a locallymade, North Atlantic-inspired fishsnack (Jerkfish refers to Jamaican-style jerk spice). But it all cameabout, like so many good ideas,almost accidentally.

“One year the Canadian FoodInspection Agency rejected atruckload of fish, so there was nohardfish in Gimli for the Icelandicfestival,” says Jerkfish’s ChrisDalman. The emergency gaveDalman an idea.

Dalman is a father of two younggirls and has been a fisherman on

one that’s peppered and onethat’s seasoned.

“It’s way less fishy and saltytasting,” he says. “The stuff fromIceland is raunchy but I still like it.”

He initially tried out his product atvarious farmers markets during thewet summer of 2008, and the nextyear he introduced it, at a moretraditional retail level, in Gimliand Riverton.

Community Futures East Interlakehas helped out Dalman severaltimes in the last few years.

“I actually went there on threedifferent occasions to get threedifferent loans,” he said, mentioningthat his latest loan allowed him topurchase a new dehydrator just thisfall. “They’ve been really good withit all the way around.”

This latest was a timely investmentfor Dalman.

“I hit seven new stores up and twoweeks later I had to restock them,”he says. He can make 100 70-grambags of Jerkfish a day in packagesthat are festooned with his logoand a proper, government-approvedlabel. Another reason that Dalmanneeded help was that although hewas developing a food product,fish isn’t eligible for the various agri-cultural grants out there.

“There are tons of challengesbecause it’s a fish product,” he said.

But he’s also hoping that there willbe tons of people checking out hisown particular angle on an oldIcelandic snack, one with a moreappealing name.

Lake Winnipeg for the past five orsix years. He was already familiarwith the raw materials that wentinto his recipe, but he was alsolooking for a way to improve whathe caught with something a littlemore value-added.

“The biggest reason why I did thiswas to find a bigger way to makemoney for my product,” saysDalman, referring to the sometimeslow prices for the fish he catches.

Dalman said that he started experi-menting with his wife’s grandparents’small dehydrator one day. Hisfather-in-law put in some spices,and tried out experiments with deermeat, and judged what they’dcreated as pretty good.

The end product, after trying outfish with the dehydrator, was similarto beef jerky, says Dalman, whouses walleye for his Jerkfish. Hehas three different kinds of fish:plain and traditional, as well as

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Interlaker’s innovative food isn’tjerking you around

A sampling of Jerkfish

When Rick Huck heard that his town’slone gas station and conveniencestore was closing down, he leapt.

Huck was already owner of CranberryPortage’s Family Foods outlet(called, of course, Rick’s), whichhe had purchased from the retiringowner several years before. Andwhen he heard the more recentnews, he saw the chance to furtherexpand his modest northernManitoba retail empire.

“The gas station closed down, soI bought a couple of lots and anold building,” says Huck, who trans-formed the place into the town QuikStop. “I opened it up in August 2009.”

Since opening the place up, Huck’sbeen busy.

“The whole reason I opened thisbusiness was to provide a place forkids from the school to come.There’s a high school here with 275kids; they are 30 percent of mybusiness. I wasn’t really expectingthis would happen. If I had known this,I would have started 10 years ago.”

He also has a regular stream ofcommitted clients during what, formany, is a quieter time of year.“I get a lot of winter road traffic -I try to support them.”

Huck had always found interestingbusiness ideas to pursue, usuallyin and around the OCN First Nation

where he worked providing a varietyof goods and services (like satellitehook-ups). But his current networkstarted with Family Foods, hisfirst venture into the groceryindustry, as well as some help fromCommunity Futures.

“I bought this store in 2005, in July,and basically just worked hard tokeep it what it was,” says Huck.“It was a pretty thriving little store.”

When purchasing the 3500-ft2

Family Foods, Community FuturesGreenstone assisted Huck withthe financing. It turns out banksare fine with helping to back thebrick-and-mortar part of a retailbusiness, but at any one time thereare tens of thousands of dollars ofstock in your average neighbourhoodgrocery store. That’s the part thatcan be difficult to finance, says Huck.

“I needed Community Futures tosecure my loan for my stock. Ineeded $75,000,” says Huck, who

also needed a business plan to showthat he had everything arranged.

While there is perhaps more com-petition for Huck than one mightthink in Cranberry Portage (a rivalgas station opened up around thetime of the Quik Stop), his grocerystore has one particular advantageover the larger competition:location, location, location.

“It’s very tough to compete withthe big box stores,” he says of theretail action in nearby Flin Flon.“But I’m 50 kilometres away fromthem. I am in the hub, in the centralarea, right on #10 Highway.”

So, while he serves the immediateCranberry Portage community, healso hires from their ranks, too,employing 10 people and keepingthe town in victuals and othernecessities seven days a week (onlyuntil 4pm on Sundays, though).

“I’ve tried my hardest to serve every-one in the community,” he said.

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Huck’s thriving enterprise

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When opportunity knocks

The Quik Stop

WHAT IS COMMUNITY FUTURES?

Community Futures is a volunteer directed, locally drivenprogram that operates across Canada. Our goal is to helprural Canadians start or expand businesses and to helpcommunities improve their local economies.

In Manitoba there are 16 Community Futures offices. Each isled by a local board of directors who volunteer their time,energy and expertise. A team of skilled staff provides a widerange of community economic development and businessservices.

COMMUNITY FUTURES PROVIDES...

Business Development & CounsellingCommunity Futures can help you develop the knowledge andskills you need to reach your entrepreneurial goals.

Community Futures provides a wide range of businesscounselling and training services on topics such as:

• Creating business plans• Conducting market research• Understanding financing options• Accessing business resources

Access to Business LoansCommunity Futures can provide you with repayable loans notnormally offered by financial institutions.

Specific business loan programs for new and existingbusinesses include:

• General entrepreneur loans up to $150,000• Entrepreneurs with disabilities loans up to $150,000

Connections to Other ServicesCommunity Futures is supported by Western EconomicDiversification Canada and we are a key partner in the WesternCanada Business Service Network. Through our partnershipwe can offer you a vital link to a world of business resources,including information on:

• Marketing• Export and trade• Other loan programs• Regulations and licensing• Trademarks and patents• Selling to government markets• Other government products, services, and support programs

Community Economic Development (CED)Community Futures helps communities address their socialand economic needs and develop a vision for the future.

Experienced Community Futures staff help rural communitiesexpand their local economies through:

• CED planning• Strategy building• Accessing CED resources• CED project leadership

CONTACT US