Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Cortes Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA) recently hired Kate Maddigan as its new Economic Development Officer (EDO). 

Colin Funk, the President of CCEDA, explained, “I have known Kate pretty much the entire time I've been on Cortes, I think I'm coming up to my 10th summer here. I've been on a few boards with her when I was active with Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI). We live pretty close together in the south end of the island. So like many, we bump into each other at the store or on the trails and such.”

Cortes Currents asked Maddigan about some of the work she has done in the community.
 
“I'm working for the ambulance station, but that will be my daytime job.”

“I did work for DFO for quite a few years up in the Yukon, and through that  I came to understand government culture better than anywhere. So when I'm writing a grant or something, I understand the brain of a bureaucrat. It really helps because you need to be able to speak their language and not everybody can do that.”

“I have written a lot of grants, and then it turns into a project management position because I know the project so well”.

“The Cortes Community Forest Cooperative approached me to write a grant with their value added project, and then I became the project manager when the grant was successful. I've also done some work for the partnership with the skills training of forestry workers a year and a half ago, I wrote the grant, the grant was successful and I became the project manager.” 

“I did some work writing grants for the Streamkeepers and help them with their fundraising strategy.”

“I've done a lot of work for FOCI just being on the board of directors for 10 years, and felt that my time  there was done, and CCEDA was looking for a grant writer.  So I jumped in and  I've done some project management for CCEDA along with all the grant writing.”

CF: “She's got a deep sense of Cortes, having been a resident for many years. She's been in the nonprofit/ social profit sector for a huge amount of time and, I think more than anybody on Cortes, has a really good understanding of the groups - whether it's groups that are dealing with the environment, economic or social education. That's really important because many of us sometimes just have a singular focus and she's very much pan-Island, so that's super important.” 

“The other thing too is she just has some remarkable skills in terms of being a real strategic thinker, and a visionary and then the ability to get things done. That's unique because most of us are either big thinkers, dreamers, but we couldn't tie our shoes effectively. Others can get lots of things done, but aren't necessarily working on the right thing or the appropriate context. She's got this whole brain approach. Kate can go from big picture and then very quickly understand what's needed to put that forward.” 

“She's got a wonderful personality and is really responsive to listening to people and following up on, helping us achieve our aspirations, our dreams. When you're working in the type of work we do in the nonprofit sector and volunteer sector, it's all about relationship. We're doing stuff that sometimes is a surprise, or unexpected, or a challenge and quite often with limited resources. So the relationship side of things is really, really important. LIke many others, I just so enjoy being around her.”

Cortes Currents

Kate Maddigan, EDO of The Cortes Community Economic Development Association

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Leslie Anderson and Nancy Arsenault are bringing a new vision of tourism to Mansons Hall on Monday, October 23rd and Gorge Hall the following day.
 
“The old model of tourism  where you just focused on the visitors doesn't work. How do you uild tourism for the benefit of all and not just the visitors? How can tourism, the dollars that it brings, the amenities and infrastructure that can be brought benefit residents first, along with the visitors. How do you build it based on what residents are looking for? It's a new lens and it's called regenerative tourism,” explained Anderson. 
 
She and Arsenault belong to Tourism Cafe,  a Vancouver Island based business, which offers clients across Canada anything from short e-courses courses to lengthy in-person programs.
 
"We're a dispersed team. We have one employee who lives in Toronto, two who live in the Williams Lake -108 mile area, myself in Nanaimo, and then Paul and Nancy are in Comox. We all work from home, and meet on Zoom.” 
 
“ Tourism Café has been contracted by the Cortes Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA) and our goal in coming to the island is to gather input and Feedback from the community that will help to inform a new community tourism plan for the island. We want to have an opportunity to chat with the residents, and businesses who have an interest in the future of tourism on the island, to hear what they have to say, so that can be incorporated and taken into consideration as the plan is put together.” 
 
“We invite everyone to come and be part of the process. Take part in the engagement sessions that are happening on October the 23rd and the 24th. So that we can hear the input, hear the perspectives and take all of that into consideration as we put that plan together.”
 
 CC: Why do we need  a plan? 
 
LA: “I think that residents and businesses gain from the implementation of a well thought out tourism plan because it looks at the opportunities for growth while taking into consideration all of  the environmental, social, cultural impacts of tourism on the island and its residents.  It's better to think about what we want, and how we plan for it, rather than to just let it happen haphazardly.”
 
 “Going through the process of creating a plan provides an opportunity for input on what are the current challenges. What are the priorities for the future investment of the time and resources that  represent this economic opportunity for the island again.”  
 
 CC: What about people who don't want to see more tourism?
 
LA: “In all the communities we’ve been in, there is always some contentiousness around tourism. There are always varying opinions about how much tourism residents and communities want to have, because some folks rely on tourism for their livelihood and other people don't. Those who rely on tourism often would like to see more. Others may not wish to see it.” 

“It’s important to hear all perspectives from residents and businesses because we know, particularly in small communities, that tourism can be both a blessing and it comes with its challenges. So we want to hear what are some of the challenges that the residents feel exist with tourism at the current time.”
 
“Visitors are going to come to the island regardless. How might you create areas where visitors are welcome to go? And areas where visitors aren't welcome to go? We know that residents want to save areas for themselves and we know that maintaining the way of life Is really important. We hear that in many communities.”
 
CC: How would you gauge whether at the end of this process, the community has more of a collective vision or not? Is there a way to gauge it?
 
LA: “The more people who come and engage in the process, the better that vision is reflective of the islanders and the community itself. So hopefully, we'll get a lot of people out and who want to take part in the process and have their say.”

Seeking Your Input For A New Vision Of Tourism On Cortes Island

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Close to 40 residents turned out to the first two Tourism Cafes on Cortes Island. The Cortes Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA) brought in Lesley Anderson and Nancy Arsenault to facilitate meetings at Mansons and Gorge Halls last week. The pair will host a virtual Tourism Cafe on  Wednesday, November 1st from 10 am to 12 pm, and return in January to present their findings. 

“ People came out of the meeting feeling a lot more informed about this planning process and how it can be a force for better tourism outcomes on the island in the future.  A process like this can be really useful and it doesn’t have to result in greater tourism. It’s how we can nuance that tourism and make it better for the island and just attract the right visitors,” explained Kate Madigan, Economic Development Officer of CCEDA.

“We had quite a range of feedback. A lot of people are kind of like, ‘ Why are we doing this? We’ve got enough tourism on Cortes, we don’t need any more’ – And that’s true.”

“Lesley and Nancy of Tourism Cafe explained we don’t want tourism to happen haphazardly. We want to be able to plan it and manage it in a way that is good for the community.  If you don’t get involved in how tourism is evolving on your island, it might evolve in a way that is not good for the community. This is why we’re doing this exercise.”

“There’s a lot of tourists out there. We don’t want to be everything to everybody. We want to attract the kind of tourists that respect our island way of life, that respect how we want tourism to evolve.  We did spend a lot of time discussing that.”

Cortes Island's first two Tourism Cafes

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The next Conversation Cafe asks ‘what does quality and accessible education look like and how do we support it? Colin Funk, President of the Cortes Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA), will be the facilitator of this public meeting in the Pioneer Room of Mansons Hall from 6:00 to 8:00 PM on Thursday, November 16.

 Kate Maddigan, CCEDA’s Economic Development Officer, explained,  

“Colin is a skilled facilitator and what he usually starts with is, 'what is your idea of success for whatever it is that we're talking about?' In this case, it's education. 'Give us your visions for success.' And then we usually do a little bit of a review of previous efforts around the topic and the 2018 LEAP report.”

 “Education wasn't a focus area in the 2018 LEAP report, but this time it will be.” 

 “For every focus area, we have maybe four strategic directions. That could be opportunities for skilled work training,  continuing education for adults,  strong and varied educational options for children, and retention of families with school aged children. Things like that, but maybe some people will come up with much better ones.”

 “Then we get into prioritized actions, like what do we need to do to advance those directions. A lot of people usually have really good ideas about what we need to do to get those things off the ground.” 

 “Manda Aufochs Gillespie will be there as well. She's a really great educational advocate on the island.” 
 
“So that's it in a nutshell. It's only two hours and it's amazing what you can do . I was really impressed with how much we actually accomplished with the small business Conversation Cafe in September.

What Does Quality Education Look Like On Cortes Island?

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Over the last few months CCEDA has been working with a Canada-wide but Comox-based consulting company called Tourism Cafe, on proposals for the future of tourism on Cortes Island. The process is nearing its completion, but islanders have one more chance to participate and make their opinions and priorities known.

On January 31st at 4pm, CCEDA will sponsor a “virtual public meeting” — the last in a series that started in Fall 2023 — at which some preliminary findings will be presented and one final round of community input gathered. The end product will be a formal report with an analysis of the local “visitor economy” and recommendations for the future.

Currents interviewed Kate Maddigan from CCEDA, who has been coordinating this effort.

IMagining the future of tourism on Cortes

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - In January, the Cortes Community Economic Development Association, or CCEDA, hired a Business Mentorship Coordinator. In the four months since then Tamlyn Collingwood has worked with a number of Cortes Island’s small businesses, developed procedures to help them and is about to unveil a series of new market opportunities in conjunction with Hollyhock.   

“I was contracted to support small businesses in any areas needed. There’s so many different aspects to business and,  for many folks, they might be good at a few things and they might have a few challenges in some of those areas,” she explained.

“My job is to help them in the areas I can, either providing one on one direct support or helping connect folks with resources that can help them or with other mentors in the community who can help them.” 

“So far I've been working with  over a dozen businesses,  mostly artists and product based businesses. A lot of times folks just need someone to bounce ideas off of or help connect them with resources.  I've done a lot of sort of one on one  creating labels, creating logos,  strategizing and business planning.”

Supporting Cortes Island's Small Businesses

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The summer market season begins on Wednesday June 26th, from 12:30-3:00 PM.

“We're having our first artisans market at Hollyhock,  just outside the garden and the lodge in the grassy area above the hot tubs. This is our first in a series of  five or six markets that are happening  every second Wednesday afternoon over the summer.  We have a variety of artists, fiber artists, ceramicists, lotions, potion makers, clothing makers, painters and live music,” explained Tamlyn Collingwoood, Business Mentorship Coordinator for the Cortes Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA).

“Come and check it out, everyone's welcome.”

“This whole plan came out of a meeting that I had with Hollyhock, in the early winter, where they shared  their  wonderful ‘Things To Do’ program. This is where they look for activities in the community for their guests to engage in, on their afternoons off.  My thought was to create some activities that also involve engaging with the community, engaging with local businesses and artists - making it  a win-win-win situation.”

Cortes Currents: Where are you getting your artists and artisans? And can anyone get involved if they want to? 

Tamlyn Collingwoood: “There’s limited space, so it’s pretty much full now, but hopefully we'll be able to spread out once the grass is fully grown. It was just recently seeded. The market is curated to support local artisans and local small businesses.”

Cortes Currents: Are they all from the Friday Market?  

Tamlyn Collingwoood: “No, there are a couple of vendors who come from the Friday market, but also some that don't. We do have one vendor from off island, Hillary from “Elsewhere Clothing,’ a very popular handmade clothing line  from Vancouver Island. She comes once in a while to the Friday Market.”

Some of the other artisans were listed in a press release:Moon Cat Magicals, Wild Spirit Glass, Twigroot Botanicals, Soft Rock Ceramics, Tenant Farms Handicrafts, Stephanie Whitman, Art Spirit Drum and Brigid Weiler Art.

Tamlyn Collingwoood: “Once I started getting the word out there, about this market, a couple of the old timers told me that  there used to be an artisans market down by the beach at Hollyhock and that it was really fun. Some of those folks were just really excited to see that this was happening again, and I was really happy to hear  that this was something that people enjoyed and that we were bringing it back to life.”

“I will be advertising the market in my usual bombarding way  on all of the social media pages,  the Tideline and sending it out to my email list.” 

“It's not just for Hollyhock guests. It's also to attract Cortes residents, or folks that might be here in the summer, to have a wander through the Hollyhock Garden, maybe visit the store or have a little bit of lunch before the market.  Come and enjoy the setting and check out  some really nice locally made art.”

Cortes Currents: Do you have to pre book for the restaurant? 

Tamlyn Collingwoood: “Yes,  there is a reservation system  for booking lunches at Hollyhock.  Anyone wanting to do that should phone Hollyhock and book ahead.  Lunch goes from 12:30 to 1:30. We'll be setting up the market right at the beginning of lunch, so people can get a little refreshment from the restaurant as well and come out and enjoy the market.” 

Cortes Currents: What about the music? 

Tamlyn Collingwoood: “Michael Keith is playing music for this market, which is fabulous. It's always a great time to have Michael playing music and just creating a nice vibe. Hopefully he'll be able to play for us again at one of our other markets.  All the vendors fees goes towards paying the musician, so if we have enough vendors, then we can hopefully afford to bring over a band that I really enjoyed  listening to at the Quadra Market.”

Corttes Currents

Summer Markets at Hollyhock

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - 283 people from Cortes, Quadra and the Outer Island’s as well as some visitors participated in CCEDA’s passenger transportation survey.  They were asked about a variety of options for passengers on the islands; a bus, taxi, carpool, van pool, or rideshare.

"We found that the most popular option for all respondents was a bus on Quadra that included both ferries. Cortes and Outer-Island residents only need a bus that goes from the Cortes ferry to the Quadra ferry.  They don't necessarily need to go anywhere else on Quadra. It's just  that straight line that so many people take across Quadra. On Quadra, the most popular option was a bus that included both ferries, but also made a loop. It would be helpful for people living on Quadra and for visitors to get around Quadra," explained Jennifer Banks-Doll, Project Lead for Quadra Island.

"Those were the most popular. Of course those are also the most expensive  options to try to implement, which is why we wanted to look at what else people would be interested in?"

"People are also really interested in having some kind of a taxi or ride-hail, because of course a bus  doesn't necessarily come to your door unless you're really lucky and live on the route. It doesn't come exactly when you need it. It doesn't necessarily have a direct route. It doesn't necessarily take you home from the bar at night."

"People are still really interested in some kind of door to door option that  they would  be paying more for, but it might be needed under certain circumstances."

"Ride sharing  was really popular and in terms of economics, it is really  the most economically feasible as well as the easiest to organize because it's already being organized on Quadra and Cortes, through  Better At Home. Only a very small number of people can access it that way, but it's a worldwide program funded here to help people stay in their homes. We found that many more people besides the clients of Better at Home are interested in ride sharing."

"The strongest thing motivating people  to use passenger transportation was reducing their carbon footprint. A lot of people who responded have their own vehicles. They wanted to not always have to use them and be able to use options that are more environmentally sensitive."

What the Cortes/Quadra Passenger Transportation Survey Discovered

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - When the Cortes Island Foundation released Cortes Island’s Vital Signs Report last month, Executive Director Manda Aufochs Gillespie said she’d like to go into specific sections in more detail. 

"One of the things that really stood out to me is the information around income and work and economy.  This area starts around page 13 in this document and I'm going to be using a lot of words to talk about this, but when you look at the report there's graphs,  little quotes and etc. that make it easier to read.”

She suggested inviting Kate Maddigan, from the Cortes Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA), to get another perspective. 

A closer look into Cortes Island's economy

Cortes Currents is a news platform that asks what's current in Cortes and the Discovery Islands. Web articles & radio podcasts: Cortes Island, Quadra Island, Discovery Islands, Campbell River: news, lifestyle, local politics, affordable housing, economy, food security, health, ferries, tourism, history,  culture, environmental issues, sustainable forestry, oyster farming, the arts, First Nations, energy, climate change, overshoot

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