In the rural Kootenay-Boundary region of BC, the Trails to the Boundary Society (TTTBS) serves the communities of Rock Creek, Midway, Greenwood, Big White, Westbridge, Bridesville and Beaverdell, filling an important gap by bringing social, educational and government services to the West Boundary. Each community is represented on the TTTBC board of directors, working together to increase economic capacity region-wide.

Through a strategic planning process in 2023, TTTBS identified the need to explore opportunities for social enterprise development in the area.  With funding support from the Economic Trust of the Southern Interior (ETSI-BC), the organization engaged in professional development to understand how social enterprises work and to build knowledge and understanding of creating a social enterprise. A second phase to the project involved working with participating organizations to establish a social enterprise business model.

Vicki Gee is Chair of the TTTBS, and an active volunteer for many other organizations in the Regional District Central Kootenay.  ETSI-BC spoke with Vicki about this initiative.

What was the motivation for this project?

Vicki: A lot of non-profits in small towns really struggle to cover basic costs and they rely on grants, donations and philanthropic support for the work they do in healthcare, the environment, arts and culture and other sectors.  In our region of 3,000 people, there are about 60 non-profits, that must keep a constant eye on where future funding will come from.

Adding a social enterprise to an organization has the potential to help generate more revenue, especially if the social enterprise self-sustaining, but the process requires time to learn about social enterprise, something most non-profits are short on. By developing our own knowledge and skills around social enterprise, the TTTBS can be a valuable and time-saving resource for other non-profits and small businesses.

Experiencing a funding cut in 2023 further inspired us to look at educating ourselves and other non-profits about incorporating social enterprises into their organizations.

What did this knowledge-building consist of?

With the ETSI-BC funding, we contracted with Purppl, an established social enterprise accelerator, which helped us develop a thorough understanding of different SE models, resources, skills and values that can be leveraged to generate revenue.  We gained clarity around financial forecasting and how legal and accounting contracts are drawn up when they are required. In addition, we participated in the Innovate for Impact pilot project delivered through Community Futures East Kootenay, a 10-month program delivered through Purppl and Impact Toolbox.  The coaching we received gave us a foundation of knowledge to support non-profits across the region in developing their own SEs.

And did you also invest in your own SE?

Yes! The interesting twist is that through this project an opportunity emerged to use our new knowledge to invest in a local bike tour business that otherwise could have closed, and operate it as a social enterprise.  This initiative was inspired by the SE training we received through this project.

Overall, we achieved our goal of increasing economic capacity in the West Boundary. We developed a clear business model and a financial model that can be applied to a list of social enterprise opportunities we’ve identified. We’ve were also able to leverage the project to attract separate funding to purchase a business that fits with our region and our goals as a non-profit, and dovetails with our trail management work.   

We couldn’t have done it without the support from ETSI-BC.