Seeds to Success

People are natural social beings and as such naturally engage and connect with others. Everyone wants to be part of a group or community to express themselves, help solve a problem or see a shared goal achieved. Many times, regional collaborations naturally come together when attempting to resolve common problems or immediate challenges affecting a region. Other times you may have to reach out to start the conversation.

The traditional concept of a workplace has undergone a significant transformation in recent years. With the rise of the digital age and the increasing demand for flexible work arrangements, co-working, and shared workspaces have emerged as popular alternatives to the traditional office setup. These shared work environments offer numerous benefits that promote collaboration, productivity, and personal growth. In this blog post, we will explore the advantages of co-working and shared workspaces and why they have become an attractive option for entrepreneurs, freelancers, and remote workers alike.

Digital presence for a business is the way your company or brand appears online. It includes your website, social media accounts, online reviews, blog posts, podcasts, videos, and any other content that you create and share on the internet. Having a strong digital presence can help you reach more customers, build trust and credibility, and grow your business.

Here are some tips to improve your digital presence for business:

I often get asked, “What is Community Economic Development (CED)?” And while you might get varied answers depending on who you ask, I once heard it described as definitions of each word – community, economic, and development. And so, while CED has complex moving parts, we can simplify it using this way of thinking. Community refers to a collection of persons, economic refers to employment, and development refers to bettering or improving your overall well being.

Therefore, it revolves around a community centered approach where people can come together to take action and generate solutions to common problems. In the end, those solutions will provide better opportunities.

How do you know where you want to go if you don’t have a plan?

Strategic planning is a necessary part of any organization. But what is it you might ask? It is a road map to reach future goals and help with the mission and vision of the organization.  It identifies strengths and opportunities for future growth and names weaknesses and threats that the organization needs to be mindful of for the future.

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.

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.