Saturday, July 4, 1992 Your business Is our business Neil Rachynski 365-7266 FEMININE FINANCES A report from the Lower Mainland claims women. are smarter when it comes to investing. Eight of the 20 investment clubs in the Vancouver area registered with the Canadian Shareowners Association are exclusively for women, and some are boasting annual returns from 22.5 per cent to 23.7 Securities firm Levesque trading shares for three corporate customers without getting proper authorization for the trades. The Vancouver Stock Exchange states Levesque agreed to the fine without admitting or denying civil responsibility. Neil Rachynski NEWS REPORTER t’s a song nobody here wants to sing. The West Kootenay is losing retail dollars to outside regions to the tune of about $60 million a year. That figure comes from Gerry Ehman at Selkirk College’s Open Learning Centre. He says it includes money lost to areas like the Okanagan as well the United States. And while cross- border shopping is an old issue, some new initiatives are under way to retain those migrating dollars. Ehman says Trail’s Community Futures organization saw a need for training in this area. “The results of a shopping survey in Trail showed the_reasons why we were losing.money to the U.S., and quality of service was a_ big reason,” Ehman said. What eventually CAEDC president Bob Griffith says the shopping dollars going out of Creston are having a big impact on the city. “We did a retail survey,” Griffith says, “and we found every 50 cents of the retail dollar leaves this community.” Griffith says the workshop, called ‘Cross- border Shopping: Meet the Competition Head- On,’ will-took at things such as store image. That includes store layout and customer service. The seminar is open to everyone, and is in conjunction with the province’s co-ordinator of Community Economic Development as well as the Retail Merchants Association of B.C. The workshop will look at some examples of businesses that met the cross-border shopping challenge head-on and came out ahead. Griffith says the role of the CAEDC “is and __the ring.” evolved is a pilot course called the Quality Service Alliance. Utilizing the resources of the Open Learning Agency, the OLC will work closely with local retailers and community business and development agencies. Ehman says’ the project is pretty innovative. “We’re breaking entirely new ground in this proposal,” Ehman said. There are a number of initiatives that make this effort different from other attempts to curb the tide of cross-border shopping. “(The project) is about four to five months long,” Ehman says, “and that’s deliberate. “We feel these one-day wonder workshops get people motivated but it wears off quickly and your back to square one.” The program will also involve both managers and employees. Ehman says you can’t help one without helping the other. The Quality Service Alliance could be the first of its kind. “We are the only people in North America that anybody knows of who are targeting the small retailer,” Ehman says. Trail businesses will display a Quality Service Alliance logo that lets consumers know the store is participating in the project and is tailoring its service to the needs of the customer. The program begins in September. Ehman says they wanted to start in the back-to-school rush. If the program takes off, the initiative could be started up in Castlegar as soon as January. “This is a community animation process. We want to get everyone involved,” Ehman said. Meantime, ithe Creston Area Economic Development Committee is putting on a workshop to meet its competition head-on. implementing helping change as opposed to leading the way.” The July 14 workshop begins at 5 p.m. at the Dionisos Steak House in Creston. Griffith says in small towns the politics between busineses can be a problem. “In small towns we’re so used to competing against each other, like the guy down the street, and not realizing he may be in Castlegar or the US.” NEW SUBS ON THE BLOCK Castlegar is close to getting the 62nd Subway restaurant in B.C. Director of —7 operations Bob Tipple says it’s 99.9 per cent positive. He says they’re just negotiating the lease and it colld be here as soon August. Subway franchises go for about $100,000. Repaving, The Castlegarairport is getting a major facelift. Work started this week on a $1.5 million pavement | rehabilitation program. The. airport will get a runway overlay among various other rebuilding. It’s a little tricky doing the runway work. Except for emergency traffic, the airport will be closed from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. Ootischenia residents get to bear three to four weeks of nighttime construction. Airport manager John Perry hopes the residents will indulge all the bright lights and heavy construction. eee This year’s budget for the ‘Castlegar and District Hospital comes in at $9 million. revitalization and rethinking Three full time regional board that employees were cut to meet the budget. Gone is staff from the nursing, maintenance and dietary departments. The board of trustees were elected last week as well. Your new chairperson is Margaret. Nickle, Nick Oglow is treasurer, and John Carpenter was elected to vice-chair by secret ballot. eee The Kootenay Regional Health Plan is getting a lukewarm reception from the board. Administrator Ken Talarico doesn’t like the idea of a | NeilRACHYNSKI would control the dollars for both the East and West Kootenay. The good news for the bed-ridden is that the menu could be getting a boost. It appears that that there was a fair amount of food waste during recent job action at the Hospital. The board determined it would be a good thing to know a patient’s likes and dislikes. eee Downtown revitalization keeps rolling along. The city is currently going through the formalities of executing the loan for the $1.3 million project. Half the dough will be paid from the city’s general revenues, and the other half from “a tax on the properties within the area included in the Downtown Revitalization.” City council is finally considering a variance permit for Gerry Hoodicoff, owner of Hooter’s Gym. He wants the requiring his new gym to have 24 parking spaces reduced to 12. In a letter to council, Hoodicoff states “I’m fed up and frustrated with the bureaucracy. This is ridiculous.” @ Saturday, July 4, 1992 FastLANE f. Win or lose, it’s in The News. Jonathan Green 365-7266 SAY WHAT? Heavyweight boxer Riddick Bowe is talking big about his potential fight with Evander Holyfield. Bowe stated “I see myself knocking Evander out in the fifth round. The champion’s - an embarrassment, fighting these old, fat retired imposters who can barely make it up the stairs to STAYING PUT The Winnipeg Jets will be staying in the city for at least the next five years. A report states the Manitoba government and the City of Winnipeg will equally share any losses and will guarantee profits to investors under an agreement reached Tuesday. STALLED BY INJURY Jose Canseco is out for 15 days because of a sore right shoulder. The Oakland A’s recalled outfielder Troy Neel from the Tacoma Tigers. Canseco joins Dave Stewart on the disabled list. Stewart is suffering from a sore elbow. LoclSPORTS A little help from Keltie Wi National swim team member Keltie Duggan drops by to see the Castlegar Aquanauts Jonathan Green SPORTS REPORTER The Castlegar Aquanu- ats got a shot-in-the-arm from a special guest this week. Keltie Duggan, a mem- ber of Canada’s National Swim Team, came to town from Edmonton Wednes- day and Thursday to talk to the local swim club and give them a few pointers on life in the pool. An old friend, Aqua- naut coach Tom Carew said there was one main reason behind Duggan’s Tom Carew A national team mem- ber since 1987, she said the last five years have been non-stop. “I need a break, basical- ly,” she said. “I needed to start new things in my life.” With the national team growing old together and no sign of young blood to take over, Duggan said she doesn’t like the looks of Canada’s immediate fu- ture in the pool, using the upcoming Olympics in Barcelona as an example. “To be honest, it doesn’t look that great,” she said. “There aren’t very many (team members) you can look to and say ‘They'll get a medal.” Duggan said it’s not that Cana- dian swim- mers are getting worse, it’s that other countries are getting better. “It Wand PUA to ta tn meets under their belts, Carew said the timing was to get the team looking ahead to the rest of the year. “We thought it would be a good idea for someone to come in and speak to the kids,” he said. “We wanted to do it early to get them pumped up for the sea- son.” Fellow coach Wendy Pilla said Duggan left the kids with one specific thought. “You’ve got to have a dream, and it doesn’t have to be the Olympics,” she said. “Just something you can shoot for.” A bronze-medal winner at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul and a gold-medal winner at the 1990 Com- monwealth Games in Auckland, Duggan said she'll. be hanging her swimsuit up next year. countries winning medals,” she said. “Now it’s 25 countries win- ning medals.” But, like a team player, she still holds out some op- timism for the swimmers headed to the games in Spain. “They could show us something special,” she saidé*We need something positive.” Just 21, Duggan-said she’s going to sit back and consider what do with the rest of her life. “I don’t know,” she said. ‘Tll keep swimming for fit- ness and I'll probably coach. “Tl always be involved with it.” Meanwhile, back at the pool, the Aquanauts and the Robson River Otters will be in Trail for the fourth swim meet of the season today and tomor- row. NS ge. a ; ; ; News photo by Jonathan Gi Canadian Swim Team member Keltie Duggan lends a hand to Castlegar Aquaneut Brandon Grant. Duggan was in town this week to talk ; swimmer. talk to ‘the local club about life as a bylaw 1" Need amortgage? Well make it happen.