Grand Forks will be hosting this year’s B.C. Rural Communities Summit at Grand Forks Secondary School from June 7 to 9.
The event will bring over 100 people from around the province to attend multiple workshops and focuses on networking with other communities.
Mayor Brian Taylor believes the exposure will be good for Grand Forks.
“We’re such a typical small town in the province and there are many rural communities that face the same types of challenges that we face here,” he said. “It’s quite appropriate to hold a rural summit in a rural community. It’s typical and has many of the same problems as other communities.”
Sarah Winton, executive director for Boundary Country Regional Chamber of Commerce, agreed.
“There’s going to be some great exposure for the community,” she said. “They’ll be eating at our restaurants and staying in our hotels and hopefully shopping while they’re here.”
This year’s theme is focused on “Grassroots, Growing Sustainable Rural Communities,” and will feature a keynote address by Selkirk College CEO Angus Graeme.
“There will be a series of workshops throughout the day on Friday and Saturday morning, with 15 workshops in total,” explained Winton. “Participants will be able to choose whichever workshop in that time period that they like.”
Local speakers include Roly Russell and Frank Moreland.
Russell will be providing a workshop called “Plugging the Leaks: Improving What We Got by Building Real Rural Economic Wealth,” while Moreland has a workshop called “Creating Regional Food Economies: opportunities and challenges.”
“Russell will be focusing on providing regional rural economic practitioners with a revised framework for strengthening rural economies,” explained Winton.
Moreland will use a food value chain to explore economically rewarding strategies while staying local.
“The summit promotes strategies for issues and challenges that rural communities face because they’re very different than urban centres and places with large populations,” said Winton. “It’s a great opportunity for people to share and exchange information, and network with communities that are exactly in the same position as we are.”
Winton pointed out that it is a great opportunity to find creative ways to tackle various issues.
“We tend to think we’re isolated and we’re dealing with things that people don’t understand, but once you get a group of people from rural communities together, you realize that we share the same challenges,” she concluded.
For more information or to register, visit bcruralsummit.ca.
