OUR SPRING IS IN THE AIR ISSUE Copy Works CONNECTION
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03.48.18 EDITOR
DONNA BENGERT
403.504.0011 donna@copyworksdesign.com
SALES
OREST TKACHYK SHARON DAVIES
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS MATT POWER JUSTINE BICE ERIN PENGELLY
Phone: 403.504.0011 Fax: 403.504.0041 116, 3030-13 Ave S.E. Medicine Hat, AB, T1B 1E3 For a complimentary subscription to the Connection Magazine forward your Email to: copyworksconnection@gmail.com digitalcopyworks.com
DEDICATED RESIDENTS INSPIRING COMMUNITIES
A SMILE ON YOUR FACE AND A SPRING IN YOUR STEP
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by Drew Barnes, MLA
ABOUT SMALL BUSINESS LOANS
by Corlaine Gardner
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by Elizabeth Blair
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HABITAT FOR HUMANITY | RESTORE 20 - 21
CAFE VERVE: COFFEE, ART & MUSIC
FACTS & QUOTES 22 - 23
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CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION
by Elizabeth Blair
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SPRING IS IN THE AIR SECTION
by Joyce Stigter
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LAWN CARE TIPS by B&L Lawn
14 - 15 Designed and printed by Copy Works Design and Gifts Disclaimer: No responsibility can be taken by the Copyworks Connection Magazine for errors or omissions contained herein. Furthermore, responsibility for any losses, damages or distress resulting from adherence to any information made available through this magazine is not the responsibility of the Copy Works Connection or Copy Works Design and Gifts. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Copyworks Connection.
SPRING CLEANING: THE KONMARI WAY by Dr. Daniel Schnee
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Have you ever noticed how good deeds and good people bring out the best in others? It took being granted the opportunity for me to represent Cypress-Medicine Hat residents to become truly cognizant of just how generous Albertans are. Locally, we have witnessed CypressMedicine Hatters donate tens of thousands for families affected by flooding, tens of thousands for neighbours to access potentially lifesaving cancer surgery, and a rallying of local businesses to give back 4
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and support our families in difficult situations, with sick children. While these are great examples, the chief example of heroic leadership and character inspiring others is the accidental and untimely passing of James Hargrave in the Hilda/Schuler wildfire. Just last night in Red Deer at the Alberta Beef Producers and Alberta Cattle Feeders Association meeting, local ranchers including Aaron Brower, Brad Osadchuk and Keith and Rhonda Reesor spearheaded an auction for youth scholarships, to further entrench www.digitalcopyworks.com
James’ legacy of community stewardship and hardwork. Cypress County also lost another great rural Albertan by the name of Lloyd Heller. Lloyd and his family have ranched in Southern Alberta for decades. He is missed for his care and compassion as well as dedication and perseverance. It is through strong community leaders that the next generation sees their examples and can strive to be the best that they can be, to support each other and to make
Alberta strong. Every day, I meet new people in this job and every day I am more inspired. We owe so much of what we know and hold dear to those around us and those who have come before us. My heart, thoughts and prayers are with the families of these incredible Albertans now that they have passed. We will remember them and will see their legacies live on in the communities that they inspired. By Drew Barnes, MLA
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By Elizabeth Blair Regardless of where you decide to access your business financing, you will need to follow through on a detailed credit process to optimize your chances of loan approval. But did you know that your financing request will be evaluated using 5 basic categories, known as “the 5 C’s of Credit”? Most lenders will use these 5 categories to evaluate your credit worthiness and determine the strength of your application. 1. Capacity. How much financing can you carry? The lender will want to know how you will meet the obligations of your loan payment by assessing your business cash flow and revenue. Your repayment history will also be considered so if you have a habit of making late payments, it could jeopardize your ability to qualify. 2. Capital. Since you are asking the lender to risk their money on your venture, how much cash are you prepared to risk and what money do you have to fall back on should you have a shortfall? Remember that lenders want to minimize their risk as much as possible so when you are looking for funds, you need to demonstrate, through your capital input, that you do have some “skin in the game”. 3. Collateral. What assets or property can you pledge as security against the loan? If a borrower cannot repay their loan, the lender will take possession of the collateral that was offered. Borrowers can pledge existing land or buildings that they own, machinery/equipment, life insurance policies and even accounts receivables. A lender may also request the personal endorsement of a guarantor (that person who would agree to pay off the loan, if you are unable to). 4. Conditions. What is the purpose of the loan? How will the funds be used? The lender will assess how the funds will be used in relation to the condition of the business as well as current local market conditions. Positive conditions would improve the likelihood of obtaining the loan. 5. Character. Will you repay the loan and how does this reflect in your character? Essentially a lender is looking for your patterns of repayment, are you a reliable borrower, do you show consistent tenure and stability, commitment and loyalty or are you unreliable and a quitter? These are all 8
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on the size and nature of the business.
important factors when assessing the character of a borrower. If you are declined for financing, the reasons typically fall into one of the following categories: insufficient collateral, insufficient sales or cash flow, poor or lack of credit experience or history, project was considered too risky or the business operates in an unstable industry. Understanding the five C’s of credit will help you enter into the loan application process with a good understanding of what to expect. Accessing financing is an important part to starting or expanding your business. In Canada, small and medium-sized businesses can access loans through banks, credit unions, insurance companies, finance companies, and venture capitalists. There are also government-assisted programs that cater to small business depending
Lets take a look at how much financing activity Community Futures Entre-Corp has managed in our 30 year history: We have approved just over $32 million in loans which represents over 1,000 loans to local start-ups and existing businesses who have in turn created over 3,400 new jobs in our community. We can lend up to $150,000 with a flexible fullyopen payment term to start a new business, buy an existing business, finance renovations equipment, expansion or working capital. Community Futures is positioned as Canada’s most established “business development” organizations. We know that a prosperous business community creates new jobs and that leads to a healthy sustainable community. We will continue to support start-ups, business acquisitions and expansion in our community with our flexible financing program. Community Futures Entre-Corp has been supporting small business since 1988. We provide the tools and guidance you need to run your business. For more information about our programs and how we can connect you with helpful resources, please call Community Futures at 403-528-2824.
Elizabeth Blair is the regional innovation network coordinator for APEX. APEX supports the growth of innovative and technologicallyoriented businesses in Southeast Alberta. APEX is a collaborative initiative between three core service providers: Community Futures Entre-Corp, Medicine Hat College and Alberta Innovates. Copy Works CONNECTION
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Cafe Verve thanks Copy Works and Community Futures for helping promote Cafe Verve. Imagine how interesting you could make a camping trip if you could make an espresso for your friends. That’s just the kind of guy Eugene Cleland is – he was the one who brought along his espresso machine to camp. For Eugene, making coffee is an art, from the choosing of the roast, to the making of the shot, the careful steaming of the milk, and finally, the art he creates with the foam. It is common for friends and family to gather at his home for a great coffee – many have told him he should open his own coffee shop. After much 10
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dreaming and consideration, that’s exactly what he did. Eugene and his wife, Betty Jean, began the journey to entrepreneurship in 2016 when they enrolled for the Community Futures Entre-Corp Self Employment program. During that training, they had time to learn about business ownership, tackle the challenges in understanding business, develop their ideas, and create a viable business plan which would allow them to turn their passion into reality. www.digitalcopyworks.com
A year or so later, they are the proud owners of Medicine Hat’s newest coffeehouse, Café Verve. For first-time business owners entering an already competitive industry, they are doing great things.
Eugene and Betty Jean have carefully planned their space for live music and to support local artists on their gallery style walls. There is usually live music every Friday night. Local art continually changes and adorns their walls. Café Verve has already hosted many musicians and artists since they opened their doors May 5, 2017. They employ 4 full-time staff and 6 part-time staff.
They have already mastered one thing: get people into your space. That’s of paramount importance especially when you consider the two biggest players in the coffee and snack shop industry hold 83.9% of market share(1) and they just happened to open a coffee shop during deep economic hardship in our region.
When asked if Eugene and Betty Jean could give advice to new entrepreneurs, here is what they shared:
Not only is Eugene a skilled practitioner at creating that perfect cup of coffee, he is also a talented musician who spent 18 years with a local folk group called “PoetLark”. After a bit of a break, the group is going to perform live, at his very own business. The group is already rehearsing for their first performance which will surely generate a huge buzz in their community of music followers. Betty Jean is a talented photographer. Even from a young age she was fascinated with photos. She owned her first professional camera at 20, studied photography at the Medicine Hat College and invested considerable time pursuing her passion in creating artistic portraits. When you walk into Café Verve, it’s the first thing you notice: beautiful design, open space and a combination of art and design that will take your breath away.
1. Listen and heed the advice of other business owners and listen to the things they have learned. 2. Continue learning about business and remember when making decisions to ask yourself “Does this fit with our vision?” Eugene and Betty Jean both shared that they are so thankful for their wonderful staff who work with them to make the cafe a reality - they emphasized that they could not have come this far without them. You can visit their website at: www.cafeverve.ca Or stop in for a coffee at 1775 Dunmore Road SE 403-487-5282
This story was written by Elizabeth Blair. Elizabeth is the regional innovation network (RIN) coordinator at Community Futures EntreCorp.
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pring is in the air and now is the time to start thinking about making our yards beautiful and healthy for the upcoming summer season. Aesthetically, lawns enhance the quality of life, contribute to social harmony and community pride, increase property values and compliment other landscape plants. Most homeowners don’t realize noise and air pollution are reduced in most suburban areas because the grass ecosystem serves as a natural filter for the environment. Lawns provide excellent soil erosion control. They enhance entrapment and biodegradation of synthetic organic compounds. They absorb and sequester carbon dioxide gases. They bring substantial urban heat dissipation which results in temperature moderation. Lawns contribute to home security as well, providing high visibility zones that deter potential intruders and open green spaces that serve as a firebreak to reduce fire hazards. For these reasons…and so many more…lawns ARE important. Maintenance of your lawn is important to keep it healthy no different than keeping ourselves healthy. Power Raking is one of the best ways to spruce up your lawn during the spring season. If you have already raked your lawn in the fall to clean up leaves and debris, you may wonder if it’s overkill to rake again in the spring. During the
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winter months, grass blades that die off can become thatch, so the fall workup won’t always prevent your grass from building up grass stems, roots and clippings that prevent water from penetrating to the roots. Although some people prefer to use leaf blowers to remove debris, leaves and dead grass, blowing doesn’t scratch the grass surface the same way that raking does. This is why power raking in the spring can help keep your lawn healthy. A power raked lawn has several benefits: - Grass grows sooner - Easier to spot problem areas that need attention - By removing the thatch, seeds that are planted will grow their roots into the soil instead of into the thatch which increases their survival rate. - Power raking removes thatch that can become nests for insects - Removal of thatch prevents fungal and bacterial diseases from developing in your lawn Core Aeration can help make your lawn healthier and reduce its maintenance requirements through these means: - Improved air exchange between the soil and atmosphere - Enhanced soil water uptake - Improved fertilizer uptake and use - Reduced water runoff and puddling - Stronger turfgrass roots
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- Reduced soil compaction - Enhanced heat and drought stress tolerance - Improved resiliency and cushioning - Enhanced thatch break down Lawn Fertilization is important because your lawn needs fertilization just as much as it needs sunshine and water. Grass needs these things to be healthy and green but don’t forget to feed it too! Fertilizer replaces and replenishes all the essentials in order to give your lawn a great look. Watering is vital to the life of your lawn. Cool temperatures make for better water retention when watering. With this in mind, the best time of day to water your lawn is in the early hours of the morning say around 4 or 5 am. The ground is at its coolest and can absorb the water best. If you water during the afternoon the sun is high and hot, the water will evaporate before soaking into the ground. Watering in the evening is not recommended unless absolutely necessary as the ground is still hot and not all of the water will soak in before evaporating Let B&L Lawn & Home Maintenance Ltd. take care of your lawn care needs including the mowing and trimming so all your family has to do is enjoy. We can even offer you tips and advice on keeping your lawn in top shape between treatments.
www.digitalcopyworks.com
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: By Dr. Daniel Schnee Being from a culture that sees cleanliness as a precious and essential quality in living, it is no surprise then that Japanese author Marie Kondo has become a celebrity “tidiness expert”, a passionate advocate teaching the world how to simplify and organize our homes. Calling her system the “KonMari Method”, Kondo promises that once you learn it you will never have to struggle to keep your house clean again. So as Spring is the time for our first big house cleaning of the year, I thought I would share some of Kondo’s advice with you. Recycling, returning, throwing out, and donating: these are the ways we permanently discard the clutter in our lives. Clutter doesn't happen if there is nothing to clutter with. 16
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Recycle your bottles, return books to the library, throw out what can't be recycled, and donate your quality old clothes to the local charities. This is decided by what you want to keep, not throw away. Using this bit of reverse psychology then, we making discarding pleasurable, and not a chore. Then, most importantly, don’t buy back the same amount of clutter you had before. Stop the clutter at the source: your wallet. It is amazing how effective this technique is. If we tidy an area, we usually just move one pile of stuff off of a desk or our bed, and move to another area to pile up there. But, if we go around the house gathering stray magazines, we deal with general disorganization. Then, recycling old www.digitalcopyworks.com
magazines and putting the remainder in a rack deals with disorganization way more effectively. We still have a general mess, but parts of the mess are “missing�. This is a great way to deal with laundry especially, as it is amazing how socks and T-shirts find their way into every pile in the house! There is also a psychology behind this process of category cleaning that will help you get through the cleaning easier. People have trouble discarding things they will still use (with functional value), that contain useful information (informational value), and that have sentimental value (emotional value). The best order to tidy up in then is clothes first, then books and papers, miscellaneous things lying around, then personal mementos that have
lost much of their value over time. To decide what mementos and personal items that will remain, you must then decide which items have outlived their purpose, and as such mementos can be rid of with gratitude for having contributed to your life up until this point. If it can sit in a drawer for months without being touched or looked at, consider it leaving your life. The key to everything is what will remain that gives you joy? Instead of focusing on the struggle to discard, the joy of keeping a few precious things is easier to achieve and a much more attainable state of being. Being tidy then, you can put more energy and time into your life mission.
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Can you feel the warmth in the sunshine? As the days get longer, the sunshine gets stronger. Even when the days were still cold, the snow banks in the sunshine were melting. On the hillsides facing the sun and our prevailing winds, the snow banks shrank away quickly. The ice packed onto the streets and the shaded back yards take longer. One of the joys of living in south eastern Alberta is the change of seasons. After a winter of temperatures that bounced up and then fell down like a crazy yoyo, we do know that spring will come. The days get longer, the sun gets warmer, and we know that winter is almost over.
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The winter snow wasn’t welcomed by everyone, but down at Police Point Park, hundreds of visitors were able to try out the snowshoes. This was the first winter in several years that we actually had enough snow to play in! The cross-country ski trail was put to good use. Instead of having to drive out to Cypress Hills or the mountains, Hatters could grab their skis and pop down to Police Point for some fresh air and good skiing. School classes took advantage of the snow too, and rented our skis to explore the Park. The winter snow holds the promise of moisture in our dry land. We live in a semi desert and the winter snow can be essential for healthy plants in the summer ahead. Ideally, we would like the snow to melt slowly, soaking into the ground. In early March, we could see this happening on the hillsides. Between the snowbanks, there was mud! Melting snow was being absorbed by the surface layer of soil and plant material. At that time, most of the ground was still frozen so the moisture couldn’t go very deep. As the month goes on, the ground thaws in the sunshine and increasing warmth, and the melt water soaks in more deeply. If the snow melts too quickly, we get more runoff. Prairie plants, and particularly the wildflowers are primed to take advantage of the early meltwater. Spring flowers are often low
growing, so they soak up both the sunshine and the water. Prairie animals are often ready for spring, even before it feels like spring. The earliest gophers or Richardson’s ground squirrels will wake up from hibernation and pop up through a snowbank! Prairie people turn their faces to sun in March and smile. For now, that warmth and beautiful light means spring is coming. And we do like those sunny days. Spring comes! What is your favorite sign of spring? Do you watch for those early gophers, or for a convertible with the top down? Do you have a special spring flower? Or is it the soft breezes and gentle warm sunshine? We hope that you enjoy our beautiful seasons. Why don’t you call us with your special sign of spring. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you greeting spring in Police Point Park.
Corlaine Gardner MH Interpretive Program Police Point Park 403-529-6225
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Where can you get a great deal on building supplies and home décor? RESTORE The Medicine Hat Habitat for Humanity ReStore is a home improvement outlet that sells NEW and gently used items for your home and garden. Whether you're looking to renovate your home, your business, or revitalize your back yard, the ReStore should be your first stop! ReStore offers new and gently used building supplies, landscaping materials, home décor, appliances, furniture, and much more for a fraction of the retail price, plus you’ll never pay GST! The proceeds generated from ReStore sales go to support Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta, which is a non-profit organization that helps families enter the housing market by purchasing their first home through an affordable mortgage. ReStore also helps to reduce the amount of used materials that are headed for overflowing landfills. In the past 2 years, over 800 tonnes of useful items were donated to the Medicine Hat ReStore, saving the environment, and costly landfill fees. If you have items to donate to the Medicine Hat ReStore, please call 403.504.5043 ext.2 or click Here to book your FREE pick up! Every purchase creates the opportunity for a better life. Every donation helps fuel ReStore’s capacity to empower more families in home ownership. Every visit is a new adventure! HABITAT FOR HUMANITY Every Habitat home changes lives. Surveys of Habitat homeowners show remarkable improvements of 20
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financial and emotional wellbeing, as well as confidence and self-reliance. Families who purchase Habitat homes report that their children are happier, do better in school, and can attribute it to having a stable home. Recently, a Medicine Hat homeowner enrolled in business school to further her education and career, and is striving to achieve a better life for herself and her children! Habitat homeowner Karen said: “The night we were accepted I cried. I laid in bed after Caleb went to bed and cried because he had a forever home.” Every volunteer increases our ability to help more families buy an affordable home. As a volunteer, you can help in a number of ways! Habitat for Humanity in Medicine Hat is seeking vibrant and creative community-minded people to join their Chapter Committee. Available volunteer roles: Marketing and Communications, Construction, Fund Development, and Family Services. If you are passionate about making a difference in our community, join our team! Please contact us at mhinfo@ habitatsouthernab.ca or call 1-403.253.9331 ext. 278.
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It was an unexpected conversation after dinner. In between sips of coffee, our friend told us about his recent experience at a police workshop in a large Alberta city. In this workshop, there was a digital map of the city, lit up with little red dots. The dots represented places where people were watching child pornography. They were so closely spaced together that there was very little white space left. We sat paralyzed in shock. What? How was this possible? And, there were little blue dots on this map, too. The blue dots represented people creating child porn. It took a few minutes for this to sink in. After all, we were having our dinner in that very city. Surrounded, apparently, by a lot of people with a sexual interest in children. I came away from our dinner with two questions: 1. Why were the police so overwhelmed? 2. Why are so many people participating in child sexual abuse? This article is my attempt to research and understand these questions. It is limited, yes. And heart-breaking. People who participate in child sexual abuse want to hide. Finding them, identifying them and convicting them is very complicated. According to ECPAT International, “child abuse material is being circulated by offenders through…hidden platforms, such as file sharing networks (including peerto-peer), the ‘Dark Net’ or similarly encrypted software techniques such 1 as The Onion Router (TOR).” This makes them very difficult to trace or identify. They upload images via encrypted cloud services. They share tips on how to evade police detection. They use crypto currency such as Bitcoin, where they can remain anonymous. Most often, they just trade child sex abuse images based on the scope and severity of the abuse, the child’s age, or whether the image is new. Live-streaming of child sexual abuse, where perpetrators direct the sexual abuse of children from anywhere in the world, does not require any storage or downloading 24
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of content, making it easier to hide. Encryption, disposable email addresses, prepaid Internet access and disk wiping technology all make live-streaming extremely difficult to detect. In my research, every paper I read recommended more resources and more training for law enforcement agencies. No wonder. Are there really that many people sexually interested in children? Maybe the recent Facebook survey about whether pedophiles should use Facebook to proposition underage girls for sexually explicit 2 pictures is an indicator. Another sign might be the continuing rise 3 in sextortion and sexting. Kids who play chat-enabled multi-player online games can be solicited by sexual predators in their own homes. Offenders know that kids want to advance in the game, and so they offer virtual gaming currencies
or commodities in return for sexual 4 pictures. At school or just hanging out with friends, kids feel pressured to ask for and send each other ‘nudes’, resulting in images being shared without consent into the growing pool of electronic images circulating around the world. Kids are sexually exploiting each other and feeding the world-wide demand 5 for more of the same. How did we get here? Around the world, children thrive in strong families and moral cultures. They depend on us as adults to protect and guide them. In Canada, our kids are being sexualized and groomed via the internet, mainstream and social media – with an end in mind. If our children grow up believing that sexual objectification is okay, they will be the ones driving the demand for child sexual abuse. To our shame.
1. http://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Journal_No12-ebook.pdf 2. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2018/03/05/facebook-asked-users-if-pedophiles-should-able- ask-kids-sexual-pictures/395535002/ 3. http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a47 4. http://abcnews.go.com/US/online-gaming-predators-playground/story?id=16081873 5. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/victoria-sexting-teen-given-conditional-discharge- 1.3050679
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