Business Okanagan » Okanagan

Okanagan Modular Home Builders Win Contract

Managing Editor — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:40:22 +0000

Britco Industries, with plants in Penticton and Aggasiz, was selected as one of four manufacturers in a new 322-unit seniors housing initiative by the fedral and provincial goverments. The other successful bidders were Northern Trailer (Kamloops), Freeport Industries (Parksville), and Chaparral Industries (Kelowna).

Britco will be building 124 units worth about $6 million at their Aggasiz and Penticton facilities, while Northern Trailer will produce 108 units worth $5.4 million at their Kamloops factory. Freeport will put together 46 units worth $2.2 million at their Parksville factory, while Chaparral will build 44 units worth $1.9 million at their Kelowna plant

The federal and provincial governments are each putting in $7.75 million for the construction of the 322 modular housing units being produced for the Seniors Rental Housing (SRH) initiative. The goal of the program is to provide affordable housing to seniors and disabled individuals in rural and remote communities. The units are slated to be built almost 100 per cent from B.C. wood from pine beetle affected forests.

Penticton Business Exellence Awards Given Out Saturday

Managing Editor — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:15:31 +0000

Business Leader of the Year: Beth Campbell, Best Western Inn, Penticton
Business of the Year: Valley First Credit Union
Community Booster Award: Colin Powell, Marketplace IGA
Hospitality and Tourism Award: Penticton lakeside Resort
Best Home Based Business: Szabo Photography Co.
Industrial Business Award: Pattison Sign Group
Retail Service Business Award: Guerard‘s Fine Furniture
Best New Business Award: Bellevue Cafe
Young Entrepreneur Award: Rene Carloni, The Mortgage Centre
Young Citizen of the Year Award: Neetu Garcha

More: Penticton Herald story Penticton Western story

Truck Trailer Manufacturer to Consolidate Operations in Penticton

Managing Editor — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:49:15 +0000

There was good news for Penticton and the Okanagan from McCoy Corp. which builds the Scona and Peerless brands of truck trailers, announced today (July 7) that it will consolidate its Edmonton operations into its Peerless facility in Penticton after a full strategic review of all options available. The company says that new orders and orders already in progress will not be affected by the suspension.

It’s expected the Penticton facility will begin to produce both the “Scona” and “Peerless” product brands early in the third quarter.

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How Small Businesses Can Weather This Recession

Managing Editor — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:29:26 +0000

Be very focused on your business. Evaluate your strengths. Discard your weaknesses. Know the profitability and marketability of every product or service you offer. Know all the features of your products or services. Clearly identify the benefits they offer your customers.
Know your target market and how best to reach them. What is the profile of your ideal customer or client?
Set out a carefully thought-out marketing strategy and stick to it. How are you going to sell your product or service? You need a blend of marketing activities that will attract your target customers and give them a reason to do business with you and active, aggressive prospecting where you reach out to prospective customers. If they don’t know who you are and what you offer, they will never do business with you.
Make it easy for a customer to buy. Think about the purchase from their point of view.
Keep in touch regularly with your existing customers or clients. Give them a reason to come back to you and do business. Consider a customer loyalty program – these can range from simple and inexpensive to sophisticated (and more costly!).
Use common sense! This is one valuable asset that small business has and, apparently, a lot of large corporations lack.
Keep your accounts receivable and your accounts payable current – religiously.

In case all of this sounds pretty familiar, that’s because it is: these are simply the basics that successful small businesses apply all the time. That’s one of the reasons that I’m convinced that small business will help lift the economy out of recession – without any help – and virtually no recognition – from politicians and government.

We’re going to fight this recession!

Managing Editor — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:53:50 +0000

Small businesses survive and prosper on hard work, grit and determination. If you listen to media commentators lately, you’d think all was already lost and only desperate action by government can do any good at all.

I started this business in the depths of the 1981- 84 recession. Frankly, I was too busy finding customers and making the business work to pay much attention to what they said on TV. I will tell you this – a recession is a state of mind. Lots of businesspeople give up and throw in the towel because they are convinced they are going to fail. For me, starting a new business, that was a good thing because it meant I had less competition: the customers were still there, they needed the services I offered and there was lots of work for us to do.

If everyone buys into the recession, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. So don’t buy into it. The thing that built Canada and British Columbia (and the Okanagan, for that matter) was free enterprise and small businesses and it’s small business that will bring the economy back to life, not huge government bailouts or big companies that are just too slow and bureaucratic to change with the times.

I’m not going to give up this time, either. In fact, I’m going to fight back by not only surviving but actually growing my business.

This will only happen if we all do what we can to help other small businesses to prosper, as well.