Community Economic Development

Agri-Biz Opportunity Event!

Farmers, ranchers, food processors, Farmer’s Market vendors and entrepreneurs
seeking new agri-biz opportunies Join us for information sessions and round table discussions:

Monday, January 16, 2012
Grande Prairie Inn 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
$20.00 Lunch is provided

Presentation topics:
• Gttng your product ready for market
• Marketing 101 –positioning your product
• Preparation tips for meeting retailers, chefs and commercial buyers
• Overcoming direct to market hurdles
• Settng a profitable price
• Discussion on local food partnerships
• Opportunities in the rabbit, sheep/goat and honey industry
• Funding and knowledge resources for growing your business
• Networking opportunities

Please reserve your space by January 11, 2012 by calling
Community Futures Grande Prairie (780) 814-5340
or email Wanda at office@cfofgp.com
or drop by #104, 9817-101 Avenue, Grande Prairie
Book your seat!

Regional Agri-Food Project Resulting in New Product and Market Development! Community Futures Grande Prairie & Region, along with its partners, launched the “Adding Value to the Agri-Food Value Chain - Creating Opportunities” project early in 2010. Since then, hundreds of Agri-preneurs have been interviewed and a large number attending Community Cafes to discuss issues pertaining to the value added agriculture sector in Northwest Alberta.

12 moved forward to one on one interviews with 6 identifying strong abilities to pursue new product and new market development opportunities related to their businesses. Of those 12, 6 were matched up with Business Coaching to assist them in developing comprehensive Business Plans, while also preparing "Pitches" for a panel of experts. This helped the agripreneurs become more confident in their business viability and also got them to the next level of the project.

Resources are now in place to support those agripreneurs in any number of ways including new market testing, packaging, nutritional analysis, recipe development, professional industry assistance, etc. The projects ends in March of 2012 but before it does an Opportunity Night will be hosted, focusing on some of the industry opportunities that have come to light as a result of the project and producers will again be invited to take part in Taste of the Peace in February of 2012.

Grant Information and Assistance Avaliable to the Region!

NEW Grant Specialist Hired

Lorraine Murphy is now available to meet with Community Groups to discuss grant opportunities. Lorraine will assist with researching funding opportunities, assessing organizational capacity and suggesting resources, and assisting groups in completing grant applications or other organization plan documents.

Call (780) 814-5340 or email gsi@cfofgp.com for more information!

Community Futures has partnered with its seven municipal members to provide grant research and preparation assistance to the region.

CF will work with community groups, non-profits and municipalities to first seek out and research grant and funding opportunities and then to prepare and critique grant applications.

To get assistance finding a grant or preparing a grant application, contact Community Futures at office@cfofgp.com or call (780) 814-5340.

One of the most popular funding source is the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission and its grant programs. Here is some information about those programs:

Other Grant Information:

http://www.gfundsonline.com/

"GFunds Online is an SME community toolkit that allows you to quickly and simply navigate all 530 Federal and Provincial technology funding support programs, and connect with other SMEs, Support Service Providers, and Program Funding Providers".

The Truth About Grants: where they are and how you can access them

Destination Marketing Fund Cluster Development Project

Destination Grande Prairie Website (DGPW)

New Destination Marketing Fund Cluster Development Project for the Grande Prairie Region!

Project Title: Destination Marketing Fund Cluster Development
Area Covered: City of Grande Prairie, County of Grande Prairie, Sexsmith, Wembley, Beaverlodge, Hythe, TeePee Creek, Debolt, Bezanson, Grovedale, Valleyview, Fox Creek, MD of Greenview

For more information on the project, please see the full project outline Destination Marketing Fund Cluster Development - RDI Project or see RFP for further contact details. All updates or questions will be posted.

History of the Project

This project began in 2007 as a Rural Community Economic Development Fund Project that involved the study and implementation of a Destination Marketing Fund (DMF).  The DMF has since been assembled and now has seven board members and has been operational for the last 2 years. 

Project Scope

The intent of this project is to take the Destination Marketing Fund to the next level by creating a bridge between the DMF and other tourism related business operators.  The DMF itself is a cluster of local hotel and recreational venues working together to promote tourism in the region.  To date, the DMF has been successfully marketing the region but has long-term goals of promoting tourism on a larger scope.  To do that, a plan has been developed that will greatly enhance the impact of tourism on local businesses and venues.  A primary outcome of the project is the development and implementation of a destination website that will contribute to local businesses and municipalities by establishing a single interactive website with dual functionality.

 

Community Economic Development (CED) puts local people in charge of their ways of life and work.

It takes skill: community organizing, research, and planning; business and organizational development; finance; and networking. And the key is to ensure that development is sustainable both ecologically and commercially.

Albertans living in smaller communities need to find better ways to address the pressing economic problems they face, as a community. They need to find more effective ways of generating appropriate development opportunities.

Community Futures' staff are practicing CED - working to create a constructive response to these problems and explore new opportunities.

At Community Futures, community economic development programs and projects are facilitated and initiated by our Staff and Board of Directors to address the issues of economic development and diversification as well as community organization development and training.

Services available:

  • Research, development, & facilitation of CED projects
  • Research other CED opportunities
  • Community capacity-building
  • Board training
  • Conflict management
  • Presentations and/or facilitation of workshops
  • Strategic planning sessions

If you have any questions about these services or CED contact Community Futures at (780) 814-5340