Seeds to Success

Hello everyone, I’m Heather Cokes, the Community Economic Development Coordinator in Edson.  I started working with CFWY in 2020 in a term position as the Edson Business Liaison for the Choose West Yellowhead project. Once that contract was completed, my role with Community Futures West Yellowhead was expanded to include community economic development. Working with CFWY felt like coming home, as I worked with them in partnerships on previous economic development initiatives, as well as participated in their CEDAP and Leadership Programs.

What are 360 images?

You know that feeling when you’re reading a really good book, or watching a movie and you find yourself so engrossed in the world that nothing else matters? That feeling of being right there with the characters? Now we can create content that is immersive and interactive, we can tell stories that involve our audience. Having an interactive experience with a story is a powerful tool, it gets you even more involved in what’s happening without being there.

When I was 22, I was working as a receptionist with Revenue Canada.  One of my colleagues was a long-term employee.  I got to talking with her (let’s call her June).  She said that she’d been doing the same job for over 10 years.  I was flabbergasted!!  Didn’t she have any ambition to pursue a career, to find work that might be more challenging, or which paid more?  That conversation stood out for me!  I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. 

I spoke to June a few more times over the next couple of months and finally asked her outright why she still worked in the same position.  Her response surprised me. 

We, as an organization, are new to the world of blogs.  Technology has evolved rapidly and we try to keep up!  We've recently updated our website and increased our social media presence through Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

These platforms are useful in promoting our programs and services.  However, when we talked about how best to promote what we do, staff all agreed that we wanted a more personalized approach. 

Hello and welcome!  I'd like to tell you a bit about myself and my role with Community Futures West Yellowhead.  

My background

In the late 1990’s, I was a graduate student in Newfoundland and Labrador.  I worked with women displaced by the fishery crisis in the province. I travelled the Newfoundland and southern Labrador coastline to meet women who were unemployed from the fishery closures. 

I remember the first time I went into an elementary school classroom to talk about entrepreneurship.  I asked the children to describe an entrepreneur – they all named a prominent business owner in the community who was your stereotypical business owner: male, white, privileged, heterosexual and had lots of money.  Next, I asked them if they could be entrepreneurs – they answered no, of course not, we're just kids!

There have been so many technological advances, it can be hard to keep up! Many small businesses don’t have the technological skills or the capacity to promote their businesses through websites, social media, etc. We are always looking for more time, with limited resources, but this is where I can help. The Digital Economy Program is free for eligible businesses and designed to save time. 

Community Futures West Yellowhead supports and promotes a diverse and inclusive workplace.  Do you?

There's often some confusion between diversity and inclusion.  These terms are used interchangeably, but their meaning is quite different.