Biz Exchange Increases Professionalism in Squamish
During the past 3 months, a small group of local business owners have been meeting before the sun rises. The seven a.m. time slot is the best time available for Squamish’s super busy business owners.
The Business Exchange group is presented by Community Futures Development Corporation. Fifteen non-competing business owners and managers from a cross-section of the community were accepted into the program. The group was conceived early in 2005 during a Squamish Chamber of Commerce workshop for business owners who completed surveys outlining what their key issues would be for in preparation for the Olympic boom. That information was reviewed by the Chamber and CFDC and the “Tooling up for 2010” series was born. This group is one component of a much larger program or workshops, presentations and seminars.
“Ron Trepanier from the Leadership and Management Development Council of B.C. deserves a lot of the credit for creating the structure for the program.” Says CFDC’s Nicole Carothers.
The group has some other advisors on hand who are volunteering their time. Sandeep Minhas from RBC is there to provide banking advice and Robin MacLeod in the capacity of Chartered Accountant. The rest of the group comes from a wide range from backgrounds including retail, coffee distribution, marketing services, high-end custom furniture and the trades.
The program is moderated by Dave Hubner. Although Hubner stands at the white board and keeps the discussions on topic, it’s the participants that are largely determining what they will work on.
Although the owners are very different, the issues that they face are the same. Human resources, accounting, finance headaches and creating effective marketing campaigns topped the list.
“I think I’ll get a better understanding of how to handle certain aspects of my business. Like most retailers I face staffing and inventory management issues and question the effectiveness of my marketing”. Says Valhalla Pures’ Murray Sovereign
Retailer Eric Armour from Trinity Romance jumped at the chance to join.
“I was interested in being with other business owners who might be dealing with similar issues. After the first three sessions, I found that I can put some of those back-burner issues in the spotlight. Being able to share with the group prevents me from making mistakes that others have made”.
Although the group is in its infancy, they have adopted a meeting format that includes a roundtable update from each business owner, presentation of work on action items from the previous session and occasionally a guest speaker. The two hour session wraps up with an in depth group dialogue with two owners ask for help on a specific subject. An online forum is also in the works.
Sea to Sky Ocean Sports owner Karen Yaremkewich saw a lot of value in the Business Exchange.
“ Once I saw who they selected, I could see that I’d get a lot of value from it. “
Yaremkewich feels that the group creates an accountability structure that has made her dust off the business plan she started and put plans in place to move it forward.
Perhaps Trinity’s Eric Armour sums it up best.
“This program is going to increase business professionalism in Squamish.”
Around the Water Cooler
Qube IT Services has opened in Squamish. Proprietor Patrick Franz provides IT and consulting services for home and businesses. Call 604-815-4427 www.qubeit.ca Servicing Squamish, Whistler and the North Shore.
The Business Exchange group is presented by Community Futures Development Corporation. Fifteen non-competing business owners and managers from a cross-section of the community were accepted into the program. The group was conceived early in 2005 during a Squamish Chamber of Commerce workshop for business owners who completed surveys outlining what their key issues would be for in preparation for the Olympic boom. That information was reviewed by the Chamber and CFDC and the “Tooling up for 2010” series was born. This group is one component of a much larger program or workshops, presentations and seminars.
“Ron Trepanier from the Leadership and Management Development Council of B.C. deserves a lot of the credit for creating the structure for the program.” Says CFDC’s Nicole Carothers.
The group has some other advisors on hand who are volunteering their time. Sandeep Minhas from RBC is there to provide banking advice and Robin MacLeod in the capacity of Chartered Accountant. The rest of the group comes from a wide range from backgrounds including retail, coffee distribution, marketing services, high-end custom furniture and the trades.
The program is moderated by Dave Hubner. Although Hubner stands at the white board and keeps the discussions on topic, it’s the participants that are largely determining what they will work on.
Although the owners are very different, the issues that they face are the same. Human resources, accounting, finance headaches and creating effective marketing campaigns topped the list.
“I think I’ll get a better understanding of how to handle certain aspects of my business. Like most retailers I face staffing and inventory management issues and question the effectiveness of my marketing”. Says Valhalla Pures’ Murray Sovereign
Retailer Eric Armour from Trinity Romance jumped at the chance to join.
“I was interested in being with other business owners who might be dealing with similar issues. After the first three sessions, I found that I can put some of those back-burner issues in the spotlight. Being able to share with the group prevents me from making mistakes that others have made”.
Although the group is in its infancy, they have adopted a meeting format that includes a roundtable update from each business owner, presentation of work on action items from the previous session and occasionally a guest speaker. The two hour session wraps up with an in depth group dialogue with two owners ask for help on a specific subject. An online forum is also in the works.
Sea to Sky Ocean Sports owner Karen Yaremkewich saw a lot of value in the Business Exchange.
“ Once I saw who they selected, I could see that I’d get a lot of value from it. “
Yaremkewich feels that the group creates an accountability structure that has made her dust off the business plan she started and put plans in place to move it forward.
Perhaps Trinity’s Eric Armour sums it up best.
“This program is going to increase business professionalism in Squamish.”
Around the Water Cooler
Qube IT Services has opened in Squamish. Proprietor Patrick Franz provides IT and consulting services for home and businesses. Call 604-815-4427 www.qubeit.ca Servicing Squamish, Whistler and the North Shore.
posted by BadCraiger at 6:07 PM
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