Sign business needed more during pandemic
Whether they’re shipping items to Afghanistan or building a threedimensional life-sized hippie bus from corrugated plastic, there’s always something challenging for Craig and Dianne Garries, owners of the West Kelowna PostNet franchise on Main Street.
They opened PostNet Feb. 16, 2011 and are celebrating 10 years of making customers happy.
They love seeing clients pick up their finished product and walk out with a big smile on their faces.
PostNet offers digital printing including business cards, brochures and booklets.
In wide format they make building signage, Coroplast signs, banners and even blueprints.
They are also the authorized agent for FedEx, Purolator, Loomis and DHL.
Too young to retire 10 years ago, the Garries were looking to open a business and with Dianne’s background in print and Craig’s experience in sales, marketing and distribution, decided a PostNet franchise would fit their skill set.
They opened in West Kelowna after researching and finding the area underserved in numerous services.
The business started with Craig, Dianne and a part-time graphic designer and has grown to three full-time and one part-time employees with the Garries continuing as
part of the daily operation.
The West Kelowna PostNet has been the top Canadian franchise for five years running.
Craig attributes part of the success to the staff.
“We have great people,” he said, adding they’ve focused on hiring staff who like to deal with people and make them happy.
When COVID-19 hit last March, PostNet was hit hard, like most businesses.
As a courier and mail service, they stayed open as an essential service, but laid off virtually everybody, but one woman for the front counter and Craig and Dianne rolled up their sleeves.
They were surprised to find business
didn’t drop off the way they expected as businesses fighting to survive needed to advertise more.
They hired back virtually all the staff they initially laid off and have restored regular store hours after initially shortening them.
For Craig and Dianne being in business also means supporting their community.
When COVID struck last spring, the Garries offered a free outdoor banner to struggling restaurants and pubs able to open for take-out and delivery so they could advertise their food and beverage services
Both Craig and Dianne are Rotarians, supporting the West Kelowna Daybreak Rotary and Kelowna Sunrise Rotary Clubs.
They give discounts to charities to support their fundraising efforts.
PostNet has been a member of the Greater Westside Board of Trade since it opened and Craig is the current past president.
Craig has also sat on advisory boards including the West Kelowna Economic Development as well as the Central Okanagan Economic Development.
One of the most unusual projects the Garries took on was creating a full-sized three-dimensional groovy Volkswagen bus for a Rotary event that guests in hippie garb could climb on board for photos.
As part of the 10th anniversary special, PostNet is running specials from Feb. 10-19, including two-forone on business cards and Coroplast signs for half price.
While they would love to expand into the Kelowna market, the Garries are leaving that to a younger generation as they consider selling the business to retire and see more of their grandchildren.
Two Okanagan wind farms will soon be under new ownership.
Canadian Power Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong tycoon Victor Li’s CK Group, has agreed to buy Okanagan Wind, which owns Pennask Wind Farm, off the Okanagan Connector, and Shinish Creek Wind Farm, 33 kilometres west of Summerland.
Okanagan Wind started operations in 2017 and has an agreement to sell power to BC Hydro for 37 more years.
“We are excited to be acquiring
CK Group’s first renewable energy project in Canada, and look forward to finding other such opportunities for the group as we work to expand our footprint,” said Derek Goodmanson, chief executive officer of Canadian Power, in a news release. “We look forward to working with the team at Okanagan Wind, as well as the community and First Nations partners.”
Canadian Power will honour Okanagan Wind’s Impact Benefit Agreements with local First Nation communities, the release said. These agreements provide access to job opportunities, annual benefit payments to the community, funds to support scholarships and continuing roles such as environmental monitoring of the projects.
CK Group has renewable energy projects around the world. Its subsidiary, Calgary-based, Canadian Power has several projects in Canada.
Canadian Power will acquire all of Okanagan Wind’s “equity interests” and some of its debt.
For many scientists, seeing their discoveries make the leap from the lab into the hands of the public can be a major challenge.
With funders and research users continually pushing the importance of the translation of scientific evidence into practice, one UBC Okanagan researcher has developed new tools to help her colleagues make those connections.
The gap between discovery and the application of research is of particular concern for people living with spinal cord injury (SCI), says UBC Okanagan Associate Professor Dr. Heather Gainforth.
Often people living with SCI — whose lives could be enhanced by research discoveries — feel their needs and voices are not reflected in the research process.
Gainforth argues engaging research users as partners throughout the entire process is key to closing that gap.
Driven to respond to the SCI community’s calls for there to be “nothing about us, without us,” Gainforth engaged a North American team of researchers, organizations, people with lived experience of SCI, health professionals and research funders to develop the first rigorously co-developed, consensus-based guidance to support meaningful research partnerships.
“Meaningful engagement of the right research users at the right time throughout the SCI research process helps to ensure that research is relevant, useful and useable,” said Gainforth.
The multidisciplinary group co-developed a set of integrated knowledge translation principles that can be used by all partners — researchers, research users and funders of SCI research.
“The panel reached 100 per cent consensus on the principles and guidance document,” says Gainforth. “More importantly though, survey data showed that the principles and guidance document were perceived by potential endusers as clear, useful and appropriate.
“The principles are a foundational tool. Partners who use the guiding principles — early and throughout the entire research process — have the potential to improve the relevance and impact of SCI research. “And, this is just the first step,” said Gainforth.
To learn more visit ikt.ok.ubc.ca