Innovative Practices - Planning
- Business Boosters Virtual Solutions
Located in Quesnel, Business Boosters Virtual Solutions reaches international customers through the internet. Since 2005, Business Boosters has been working with operators of tourism businesses who lack human resources or are seasonal operations, to manage business tasks required to build and maintain a successful enterprise. Sometimes operators are remote or rural, so the assistance of Business Boosters has many benefits. Tara Johima created the company in 2005 when she recognized that the virtual assistance industry was the 7th fastest growing industry at that time. Johima’s background of business, high-end sales training, extensive customer service training, radio sales, and government and recreational employment has enabled her to capitalize on her assets to minimize frustration of small owners/operators.
- Community Mapping Network
The Community Mapping Network links together mapping data from many sources: municipal, provincial, and federal government, as well as collecting new data. The collection of new data is a very important part of the CMN because though there is a large amount of data already available, there are invariably gaps that need to be filled in. CMN will also aid communities in making the results of a project accessible. Anything that is mapped can be linked to new tools such as Google Earth. This technology has many possibilities within the tourism industry.
- Echo Valley Ranch and Spa
Echo Valley has addressed their human resource issues with a number of innovative methods. They have adopted a progressive approach to their organizational hierarchy by essentially not having one. Instead, they base their organizational structure around the philosophy that employees ‘work with one another.’ As resort owner Norm Dove puts it, “We don’t manage people, we work with them.” Employees are expected not to fulfill job duties, but instead to take care of their responsibilities and help out where and when it is needed.
- Town of Golden - Incorporating tourism into community planning
Golden has seen this issue front and foremost as it is located next to a large ski resort and many Albertan residents have relocated to the community which has changed the social make-up of the community and residents were feeling worried. To dissolve this issue and ensure their community remained the small mountain town they called home, the Town of Golden hired a community planner. More specifically, the town hired a new and upcoming planner who was known for her young and fresh outlook on development and strong sustainability focus. The next step the community took was to update and redo Golden’s Official Community Plan.
- Ucluelet - leading edge in community planning
With British Columbia’s popularity as a destination on the rise, there are numerous communities throughout the province that are feeling a great deal of pressure from developers and other businesses to expand at an alarmingly quick pace.
Ucluelet’s district planner, Felice Mazzoni, indicated that “the community is experiencing tremendous development pressure for a multitude of different types of development, from residential subdivisions to multi-national hotels. During the past 3 years, Ucluelet has seen more new construction than the previous 25 years combined; therefore, it is important for the community to maintain its ‘sense of place’ and character while allowing for development to take place on a manageable and sustainable basis.”
- Clinton Facade Improvement Grant
One way Clinton is encouraging visitors to stop is by tapping into their Western Heritage. The community officially has a Western Heritage theme, each may they host Western Heritage Week, and there are many buildings original to the town still in existence. To support the heritage assets already in place, the Village of Clinton has instituted an innovative program to encourage businesses to upgrade their storefronts.
Any business interested in renovating their storefront can apply for the Façade Improvement Grant. The Village has made available $5000 per year to reimburse businesses who renovate their storefronts to fit with the Western Heritage theme. The money is budgeted by the Village as part of their annual operating costs and is available to any business in the Village.
