Recipe for Resilience: Sweet Iron Café’s Journey with Community Futures
It’s possible that the cookies at Sweet Iron Café are the biggest and buttery-ist around, and that the handshakes and hello’s on the patio are just as delightful. Everything inside this riverside café in Enderby is made with a lot of heart, and real and local ingredients where possible.
Alongside the ongoing support of one particularly dedicated Community Futures North Okanagan small business advisor, owners Naomi and Dean McGeachy have brought their vision for a community-minded café to life.
Naomi and Dean moved to Enderby almost 25 years ago from the Lower Mainland to raise their family. Every now and then since that time, they talked about opening a bed and breakfast or a café by the Shuswap River that runs through the town.
In 2022, a historic riverfront building became available, and Naomi and Dean felt ready to take the leap.
“We instantly fell in love with the place,” says Naomi, of the building’s charm.
“We had just been on the Island and spent a lot of time visiting coffee shops,” says Dean. “We really noticed the crowds and how happy people were.”
They quickly began dreaming of how they’d make the space their own and what they’d need to buy, but it wasn’t mean to be. At least, not yet.
The building lease went to another small business, and that turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
“Shortly after that I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” says Naomi, who underwent a double mastectomy and five weeks of radiation, and a trying treatment journey.
Naomi focused on healing, and in 2023 she was starting to feel ready to go back out in the world. One day, there was a knock on the door. It was the building landlord, letting Naomi know the building had become available again, and was she interested?
Two days after Christmas, they signed the lease and on Jan. 1, 2025, they got the keys and set a goal of opening in April, following one last surgery for Naomi.
It was in those dreaming and planning and renovating months that the couple got in touch with Hal Mueller, a Community Futures North Okanagan business advisor.
“From the moment we decided to do this and realized we needed a business plan, Hal was there for us,” says Naomi.
“He’s been such a wealth of information and he’s always happy to help us.”
Hal advised in the business planning stage, and connected the couple with the CF North Okanagan’s loan advisor, Scot McNair. A strong business plan and projections led to capital to renovate the café.
That process took several months, a busy but meaningful time as they began to decorate with family and local heirlooms. Then, on August 13, 2025, they opened!
Hal continued to visit the café and answer their questions, giving ideas about everything from signage to social media marketing, ensuring guests know about all that butter and valley-roasted coffee beans.
While locals and visitors alike have been quick to frequent and rave about Sweet Iron Café, there have been times where the numbers gave the couple doubts.
“Hal would remind us, ‘The first year is the hardest. You’re doing great,’” says Naomi. “He’s been like a cheerleader all along the way, and we know we can reach out to anyone at Community Futures and they’ll be there to help us out.”
Nearly six months after they first opened their doors, the Sweet Iron Café was invited to participate in Rail Trail Readiness Workshops to help small businesses prepare for the economic and tourism opportunities to come from the Shuswap North Okanagan Rail Trail, a 40-kilometre stretch that brushes the café.
“We want to see Enderby and the rail trail be a destination, and we want Sweet Iron to be a part of that,” says Naomi, of the workshops hosted by Community Futures North Okanagan. “It’s been pretty inspirational for us and it’s helping us focus on things as we move forward.”
As the café grows, Hal and Community Futures have also been able to support a range of common growing challenges, including staff training and retention, through workshops and one-to-one conversations.
“It’s nice to know other businesses are having the same challenges and to have a way to share ideas about how to overcome them.”
As Sweet Iron Café moves toward its second anniversary, sometimes they are the ones called upon for thoughts on navigating opening a small business, and it’s Hal’s name and number they are quick to share.
“I would say if you are just starting out, or you’re already in business and you’re at a stonewall, have a conversation with them,” says Naomi. “They’ll send you in the right direction. Community Futures really is there to help small business.”
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