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Government of Canada launches program to support Lytton’s business community

The Lytton Business Restart Program provides contribution funding to support the restart and revitalization of local business in Lytton, B.C.

February 15, 2024 – Lytton, British Columbia – PacifiCan

A vibrant business community is vital to the recovery of Lytton, B.C. Businesses provide jobs, create places to gather, bring in visitors, and are a big part of what draws people to a community.

Today, the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan), announced that the Lytton Business Restart Program is open for applications. Through this $7.2 million program, PacifiCan will provide funding to eligible small businesses who will operate in the community of Lytton.

Since the devastating Lytton Creek Wildfire in 2021, complex land recovery efforts have taken place, and the community is now ready to focus on rebuilding. Last year, the Government of Canada launched a program to help Lytton homeowners rebuild more fire-resilient and climate friendly homes. Now, the Government of Canada is here to support the restart of Lytton’s business community.

The Lytton Business Restart Program will help Lytton build back its economic core. Returning and new businesses can apply for support through the program, which has two funding streams tailored to the community’s needs. The Rapid Restart stream provides up to $20,000 in non-repayable contributions for returning businesses that require a small amount of funding to restart operations. The Small Business Recovery stream provides larger amounts of funding up to $1 million as repayable contributions, with some consideration for non-repayable contributions for businesses that have been identified as critical to Lytton’s rebuild and longer-term economic vitality.

In response to local needs, the Lytton Business Restart Program is open to small businesses that plan to operate in the Village of Lytton and within 15 kilometers of the Village, including on reserve. Throughout the intake period, PacifiCan will actively seek proposals, including from Indigenous businesses, as well as those operated by women, youth, and other underrepresented groups. PacifiCan is also working in partnership with the local Community Futures, which will help potential applicants with business planning.

PacifiCan is one partner supporting Lytton’s recovery, alongside the Province of British Columbia, other federal departments, the Village of Lytton, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, Indigenous communities, and leadership in the region.

For more information, visit the PacifiCan website at www.canada.ca/pacifican-lytton-programs. Potential applicants are encouraged to reach out to the

After 70 years in business, NDG store says reserved bus lane hastened closure – Montreal

A store in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges-NDG borough, that’s been operating for over 70 years, says it’s closing its doors because a new bus lane has hurt business.

The city installed reserved lanes during rush hour on Queen Mary in November of 2022.

Back then, merchants worried aloud that their customers wouldn’t be able to find parking. Now they say their fears have become reality.

“Everything has dropped off at least 25 per cent,” said Barbara Vininsky, owner of Jack and Jill.

Vininsky takes pride in selling what’s trending in the world of kids.

“The customers, they’re like my friends. I have a relationship with them,” she lovingly said.

The business has taken various forms since her mother opened it in 1945, but she says now its storied history as a storefront is over. She’s closing in a few months, in large part because she claims a reserved bus lane implemented on Queen Mary Road in 2022 has been bad for business.

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During the afternoon rush when parents would drop in with their kids, the parking spots right in front of the store are eliminated to facilitate public transit mobility.

“When they can’t find a parking spot, they just keep going, so you lose all that business,” she said.

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Back when it was announced, Vininsky and others petitioned against the lane. The Punjab Canteen restaurant says it has hurt them, too

“It’s been a very big loss in our business,” said chef Manjeet Kumar.

Kumar said customers have received parking-related fines, and sometimes delivery drivers just don’t pick orders up at all because there’s nowhere to stop.

“I don’t think it reduces parking, they’re just going to have to look for it,” said public transit user Marlene Miolich. “There’s lots of side streets here and buses are imperative.”

When Vininsky announced the closure online, dozens of sad comments poured in.

“I’m very sad because I have to find another job,” said Hazel Young, who has been working at Jack and Jill for 23 years.

Snowdon city councillor Sonny Moroz said he had shopped at Jack and Jill as a child.

“My sister bought all her Beanie Babies there, and to lose it is to lose a landmark institution on an important commercial artery,” he said.

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Moroz voted in favour

FBI informant charged with lying about Bidens’ role in Ukraine business | FBI

An FBI informant has been charged with lying to his handler about ties between Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company.

Alexander Smirnov falsely told FBI agents in June 2020 that executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter and Joe Biden $5m each in 2015 and 2016, prosecutors said on Thursday.

Smirnov told the FBI that a Burisma executive had claimed to have hired Hunter Biden to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems”, prosecutors said in a statement.

The allegations became a flashpoint in Congress over the summer as Republicans demanded the FBI release the unredacted form documenting the allegations as they pursued investigations of Biden and his family. They acknowledged at the time that it was unclear if the allegations were true.

The new development sharply undermines the thrust of congressional Republicans’ corruption accusations that the US president was making money from his son Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine.

Smirnov, 43, appeared in court in Las Vegas briefly on Thursday after being charged with making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record. He did not enter a plea. The judge ordered the courtroom cleared after federal public defender Margaret Wightman Lambrose requested a closed hearing for arguments about sealing court documents. She declined to comment on the case.

The charges were filed by the justice department special counsel David Weiss, who has separately charged Hunter with firearm and tax violations.

Hunter’s legal team did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

The informant’s claims have been central to the Republican effort in Congress to investigate the president and his family, and helped spark what is now a House impeachment inquiry into Biden.

Prosecutors say Smirnov had contact with Burisma executives, but it was routine and actually took place in 2017, after Barack Obama, the US president, and Biden, his vice-president, had left office – when Biden would have had no ability to influence US policy.

Smirnov “transformed his routine and unextraordinary business contacts with Burisma in 2017 and later into bribery allegations against public official 1, the presumptive nominee of one of the two major political parties for president, after expressing bias against public official 1 and his candidacy,” the indictment said.

He repeated some of the false claims when he was interviewed by FBI agents in September last year and changed his story about others

The brewing secrets behind tastier no-alcohol beer

By Nicola K SmithTechnology of Business reporter

Firebrand Brewing Co

Joe Thomson’s best-selling beer is alcohol-free

Joe Thomson stands surveying his shiny brewery from the elevated glass fronted taproom.

At one end of Firebrand Brewing Company’s factory stand four towering 9,000 litre vessels, a recent purchase to help meet growing demand for non-alcoholic beer.

“We weren’t sure what to expect when we launched our first non-alcoholic beer, Shorebreak, in 2022, but it is now our biggest selling canned beer by a long way,” he says.

Firebrand, which sits in an industrial estate not far from the wilds of Bodmin Moor in Launceston, Cornwall, reflects a much wider trend.

Mintel estimates that retail sales value of low and no-alcohol beer in the UK grew by 28.7% and volume sales by 18.8% over 2021-23.

The keen appetite for a healthier, non-alcoholic alternative to traditional beer is fuelling innovation as brands explore ways to mimic the taste of traditional beer.

Alcohol gives beer a sweet, warming, full-bodied taste, as well as affecting how other flavour compounds evaporate, resulting in its distinctive flavour. So, removing it presents a challenge.

“With alcohol free beer you are breaking the rules. You have to find creative ways to brew a tasty balanced beer,” says Mr Thomson.

One of the most widely used approaches to brewing non-alcoholic beer is arrested fermentation, which either removes the yeast or stops the yeast from becoming active.

Firebrand does that by adding less malted barley – the main source of sugar which ferments into alcohol.

“In a normal mash we might add 400kg of barley whereas in our non-alcoholic beer there is more like 25kg. The challenge is how you still achieve that flavour. It’s about manipulating unfermented sugars and ingredients as well as temperatures to give the sensation of beer,” explains Mr Thomas.

Impossibrew

Impossibrew stops the fermentation process with cold temperatures

Another UK-based brewer, Impossibrew, which specialises in non-alcoholic beers, uses a different means of arrested fermentation. “We brew it in such a way that we can cryogenically stop the fermentation process,” says founder, Mark Wong.

“By suddenly putting it in a very cold state, parts of the process are halted and parts of the process are activated to make sure the flavour is retained,” says Mr Wong.

Impossibrew also adds its “proprietary social blend”, a mix of nootropic herbs designed to imitate the feeling of relaxation induced by

Should Your Business Hop on the Latest Trend? Nine Ways to Decide

Trends come and pass, with customers eventually losing interest or forgetting why a particular thing was popular in the first place. Your business, however, should have true staying power. Regardless of the time or place, customers should want to continue buying your products or services because of the distinct value they provide — not because you participated in a trend.

But trends can also have their place, providing business leaders with the opportunity to reach new audiences and freshen up their marketing. That said, how is a business leader to know when it’s appropriate to hop on a trend and when it’s not? To shed some light, top business leaders from Rolling Stone Culture Council offer their perspective on the issue, each discussing one tip they’d offer fellow business leaders for how to determine whether a trend will benefit your business or detract from it.

Go With Your Gut

Trends are well and good, but always stay true to yourself. Ultimately, following trends should depend on your business goals and whether the trends align with them. So, go with your gut and do what feels right for you, your values and your business. – Mark Paulda, Mark Paulda & Co

Ensure It Benefits Your Brand

If the trend benefits your business and the direction you’re heading in, I say go for it. More importantly, don’t feel the need to adopt a trend just because it’s new and fresh. Brand alignment is key. – Karina Michel Feld, Tallulah Films

Ask if It Resonates With Your Customers

Assess the trend’s relevance to your audience and brand values. Whether it’s memes or broader consumer trends, only adopt them if they resonate with your customers. Quick adoption is crucial if the trend aligns, but if not, skipping ensures you stay authentic to your brand and maintain focus on what genuinely interests your target audience. – Dan Serard, Cannabis Creative Group

Consider the Trend’s ‘Why’

Trends come and go — but when read correctly, they provide important business insights. As a body jewelry manufacturer, we predict what people want to wear. However, a consumer chooses to wear butterflies or titanium for very different reasons: A butterfly is a style preference, and titanium is a health decision. Adding more butterflies is a seasonal change; expanding our titanium is a commitment of ideals. – Vanessa Nornberg, Metal Mafia

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