For nearly 40 years, Community Futures has been promoting, advising and investing in the business ventures that are so important to the towns and small cities of southwest Saskatchewan.
Among the organization’s newest projects – a Visitor Hub just north of Maple Creek on the #1 highway – is essentially Community Futures Southwest in a nutshell: an initiative that combines awareness for the region’s small businesses and appreciation of its value to tourism. It’s an ambitious undertaking, but one that also recognizes the breadth of what the southwest has to offer.
“The building used to be an Information Centre,” says Kara Thompson, Community Futures Southwest’s general manager, based in Swift Current. “We’ve changed it into a business incubation and investment attraction centre, so travellers from all over can stop in, purchase products from local entrepreneurs and find out what business opportunities are available in the southwest.”
To get the Visitor Hub off the ground, the organization brought 10 communities into a steering committee. They received $300,000 in government funding, but the goal is to have the facility vibrant and self-sustaining within two years.
“We know that communities in rural Saskatchewan need help growing,” Thompson explains. “They need help attracting new people to come and start businesses and grow families. We want to help make sure that our region is strong.”
Kristine Scheller, project manager for the Visitor Hub, says an average of 780 people are already stopping by each week. What makes the Hub unique, she says, it’s the bringing together of municipalities, business organizations and government agencies within a single, public-facing tent.
“I want the Visitor Hub to become a tourist attraction, but I also want it to be a place where visitors and residents can come and learn what the southwest has to offer in economic development,” she says.
Thompson underlines the project’s importance to regional businesses, many of which are in a transitional phase.
“A lot of business owners are at an age where they’re going to be retiring, and it’s often difficult to find someone new,” she says. “It’s easier to transfer a business than shut it down, and the Hub will help because someone passing through finds an attractive little community and business opportunity, and all of a sudden there’s a succession plan.”
As an entrepreneurial incubator, the Visitor Hub will feature locally-made products available for purchase, and through those small businesses, the southwest as a whole will be showcased.
More broadly, Community Futures Southwest provides loans, advice, and support to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs and businesses. Funded by the federal government, it’s a resource that exists as a tool to help businesses succeed.
“We’re here to pretty much give whatever our small businesses need to be successful,” says Thompson. “We also do a lot of economic development work in rural Saskatchewan, and our region is quite large. So we’ve been able to put a lot of grant money into these small communities, whether for community halls or whatever they need.”
Thompson especially wants local communities and entrepreneurs to be aware that Community Futures Southwest is here to assist with regional growth through investment in small businesses.
“We’d love to get the small business community to know us better as a resource for loans, advice and support,” she says. “For some rural businesses, the resources aren’t necessarily there. We’re here to help them.”
At the end of the day, it’s all about a desire to see southwest Saskatchewan thrive.
“I love the southwest,” says Scheller. “It’s always held a place in my heart, and to be able to promote it and watch it grow is going to be great.
Community Futures Southwest and the Southwest Saskatchewan Tourism Hub are thankful to PrairiesCan, and for the funding given through the Rural Opportunities Fund Program, for helping make this exciting project attainable.
Community Futures Southwest is active on social media and can be followed using Instagram and Facebook. The main Swift Current office can be reached by calling (306) 778-4242, and more information regarding the organization’s resources can be found on their website. Everyone is also welcome to drop in at the Visitor Hub, located at the corner of Hwys #1 and #21.
