New name represents Community Futures in South Kootenay

The Greater Trail Community Futures office has changed its name to Community Futures South Kootenay.  The name change was announced Nov. 22 during the Community Futures Open House event held in the organization’s downtown Trail office.

“We’re proud to adopt a new name that is more representative of the region we serve,” stated the organization’s Board of Directors member Wayne Kelly. “South Kootenay better defines our catchment area that includes Rossland, Warfield, Trail, Montrose, Fruitvale and areas A and B of the Kootenay Boundary Regional District.  It’s inclusive and recognizes all the cities, towns and villages that our office serves”.

Community Futures is rural Canada’s non-for-profit community economic development network helping entrepreneurs succeed with small business loans, coaching, advice and resources. Community Futures South Kootenay (CFSK) is one of 34 CF offices in rural British Columbia. Each office serves a defined geographic area with a portion of their operations funded by the province’s dedicated federal economic development partner PacifiCan.

“South Kootenay has already been used to define our area,” states Executive Director Erik Kalacis. “We have the South Kootenay Business Centre located in Trail and a South Kootenay tourism attraction strategy.  Our new name also aligns well with our network’s offices in Nelson and Cranbrook, respectively called Community Futures Central Kootenay and Community Futures East Kootenay.  We expect this re-branding to help attract more entrepreneurs to reach out for our free business supports”.

For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023, Community Futures South Kootenay made a significant impact to the local economy by disbursing $1,743M in loans to small businesses in their region.  This created or maintained 53 local jobs. The office was engaged in 23 different community economic development projects with 33 partners.  In addition, they held 378 business advisory service sessions and delivered free business training to 107 local entrepreneurs.

Founded in 1987 as part of the federal government’s Canadian Jobs Strategy to support the development of rural economies, the organization continues to deliver loans, community projects, training, business resources and a self-employment program for entrepreneurs.  For more information, please visit www.communityfutures.com