October 2024 - Community Futures North Okanagan

At the grocery store, at community events, at local parks, Sue Gravelle is apt to run into someone who was able to start or grow their small business with a loan from Community Futures North Okanagan. This week, as she retires after a 30-year career with the organization, much of that time as loans administrator, Gravelle’s contribution to the business community is being recognized.

Long-time loans administrator Sue Gravelle, left, in an early Community Futures North Okanagan photo.

Gravelle says she enjoys running into past clients, who often stop to chat and share where their business journey has taken them.

“It’s always interesting to see how they’ve prospered and how we’ve played a part in giving them a hand up, so it feels good,” says Gravelle. “I will miss it.”

Gravelle joined CF North Okanagan in 1994 as a receptionist, and her skills with both people and administration were quickly recognized when she began working closely with then loans manager Vic Harwood, a critical champion of what Community Futures would become in Vernon. At the time, the non-profit was just a small team offering self-employment services and lending, from micro-loans of about $3,000 to help self-employment clients start their business, to major financing up to $150,000 for purchase, start-up or expansion of businesses —and it was all processed by papers and cheques.

Some of the early clients with full circle stories Gravelle recalls are Bill Wood of Paragon Maintenance, who went through the Self-employment Program and later earned the building maintenance contract three years after CF North Okanagan moved into its current building on 33 Street in 1996.

“He’s still doing our building maintenance, 25 years on,” she says. “He knows the building better than anybody.”

Gravelle also thinks of Nancy Wilde, who launched her signage business, Wilde Imagination, with support from CF North Okanagan in 1994. Wilde recently joined the CF team as an employment advisor helping others start a new career journey.

Whether it was the clients or her team, Gravelle says what kept her in the role for so many years was this: “The working relationships were paramount—I worked with six different loan managers over the years and all of them were great people, just fantastic— but I also enjoyed the work. I touched so many loans and people in the community.”

Gravelle’s 30-year career and retirement was recognized alongside CF North Okanagan’s 40^th anniversary, which saw Open House celebrations Oct. 23.

It’s the 14-year-old in 4-H who gets a loan to buy a calf that pays for college. It’s the single mom survivor of violence who feels broken and alone on her first day of Bridges and completes the program feeling capable of building a healthy life for her kids. It’s the young Philipino father who came to Vernon through the RNIP program and went on to open a handyman business that took second place in the Enterprize Challenge and earned the caretaker’s contract for Murphy’s Landing, the new housing development for medical students.

These are the moments, the lives, the ripples of positivity that staff at Community Futures North Okanagan are reflecting on as they celebrate 40 years of making an impact in Vernon and throughout the region.

“There have been so many of those special moments that we’re proud of—the small things that are actually really big,” says Chelan Cotter, a business advisor who has been with CF North Okanagan for 23 years.

The organization was once a one-person, one-room presence in the same building where drivers’ licenses are renewed. That’s how Michele Hill first found Community Futures 30 years ago, when she needed a loan to start her business, Hill Environmental. To give back to the organization, Hill began volunteering on the loans committee in 2006 and later served on the board for nine years, eight as chair. After a recent break, Hill has just rejoined the board.

“The way Community Futures has grown and risen to meet the challenges of this community in a grassroots way is just incredible,” says Hill. “It’s very much client-driven and that’s a big part of our success: clients and community are first and foremost in every service we offer.”

An early Community Futures North Okanagan staff photo. Who do you recognize?

Today, a team of 45 staff lead a range of employment, business and economic development initiatives that continuously adapt and improve to meet market needs. It’s the largest Community Futures in Canada and is looked upon as a leader in the sector.

Highlights:

1996, moved into current building on 33 Street
2019, earned the Employment Program of BC contract, merging 10 local employment programs into a one-stop shop model
2020, opened THE VIEW co-work space downtown
2019-2024, Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) opens to address labour shortages
2015, started the Enterprize Challenge
2024, opened Murphy’s Landing, workforce housing developing for medical students

“I think the turning points have always been and continue to be our willingness to take risks, to stretch ourselves and learn new things, to build partnerships and relationships so we can take on the big things,” says Kim Lauritsen, who joined Community Futures in 2001 and is now employment services manager. “And the fact that we have a long-standing management team and amazing staff who are willing to do hard things.”

Indeed, ask any long-time staff what makes the organization special, and, after a nod to courageous clients, they’ll say: It’s the team. Cotter tells of a team member with a mobility challenge whose house was flooded and needed help moving; 10 coworkers showed up on a Saturday to help move. And then there was that snowstorm when Vernon came to a grinding halt with snow too deep for cars to get around.

“There were still five of us here. We walked to work,” says Cotter. “We knew we would have clients out waiting on the street, and we couldn’t have that.”

On Oct. 23, those who have been a part of the Community Futures community have been invited to an open house celebration. Lauritsen says it will be a special day to mark milestones and thank everyone who contributed along the way.

“We are immensely grateful to the community partners, funders, clients and team members who have made all of our successes possible and so worthwhile.”

“We are immensely grateful to the community partners, funders, clients and team members who have made all of our successes possible and so worthwhile.”

Bidding farewell to longtime loans administrator

Community Futures North Okanagan celebrates 40th anniversary