Chantal and Wes Alkins of Silver Creek Farm
Meet Chantal and Wes Alkins, the husband and wife duo behind Silver Creek Farm. Growing up, Chantal was immersed in the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, as her father ran a number of successful businesses. After becoming a business owner in 2016, Chantal quickly realized there was a lot more to entrepreneurship than meets the eye. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop her. Chantal is driven by the challenges of owning a business and continues to strive for growth.
Silver Creek Farm is a small family-run farm located just outside Thunder Bay. The Alkins family is committed to the growth of the local agricultural industry by operating a sustainable, resilient, and environmentally sound farm. It contributes to local food security by offering products to the community at a reasonable price and ensuring the procurement of the products is accessible to everyone. The farm produces a variety of products such as heritage pork, Angus beef, free-range eggs, and seasonal vegetables. The farm also produces various prepared foods, pickles, jams, and jellies from the produce harvested on the farm. Photos taken by Incompass Photography
What drew you to entrepreneurship? Chantal:
My father was an entrepreneur. He took substantial risks in his life and career that sometimes paid off and sometimes didn’t. He was a big dreamer. After running a number of successful residential contracting businesses (among other ventures), he completely uprooted his life and immersed himself in the study of geology, later to become a self-taught geologist and wellknown prospector in northeastern Ontario. My dad had this incredible ability to manifest wealth and prosperity. People were drawn to him, he was very charismatic and larger than life. Being the child of an entrepreneur had its own challenges and honestly at times our lives were pretty unstable.
And that’s the flip side of the coin: one moment you’re on top of the world and the next you’re not sure how you’re going to get the bills paid. Entrepreneurs are blessed— or cursed, depending on how you look at it—with an unrelenting drive to always do more and to always do better. It’s like travelling from one mountain peak to the next, always anticipating what's around each corner.
What is your most memorable moment being an entrepreneur? Chantal:
Taking the leap from being an employee to becoming a business owner. I jumped in wholeheartedly without fully understanding the intricate complexities of accounting, insurance, marketing, taxes, and how they all fit together. For myself, the first step was enrolling in the Starter Company Plus program with the Thunder Bay CEDC. This is a phenomenal program and if you take full advantage of it, you’ll end up with a solid “fund-able” business plan as well as a nice little grant to invest in your new business. This program really helps set new businesses up for success. We're lucky to have the Entrepreneur Centre in Thunder Bay. It’s worth it to take advantage of all the free resources and support they have to offer.
Who was your biggest inspiration/mentor?
Chantal: My long-time friend and colleague Genevieve H. She is the strongest and most resilient woman I know. She has this innate ability to see through adversity and turn challenges into opportunity. She never dwells on a problem too long and is very solution-oriented. Working alongside her over the years has been incredibly exciting. The work has been meaningful and knowing that we’ve made positive changes in people’s lives through community and economic development initiatives is very rewarding. She’s made a huge difference in my life and many other people’s lives. I wouldn’t be where I am today without her support.
If you could go back in time what piece of advice would you give yourself? Chantal:
Not everyone is going supportive of your drive or your journey. Do it anyway. Give it all you got.