Working from home (Dreamstime 4728125 © Marco Scisetti - Dreamstime.com)

By Kevin Rothwell

Online skills

Update: Enderby and District Chamber proposes new program for E-business training

Jan 14, 2021 | 1:57 PM

Update: The Regional District of North Okanagan has voted not support a grant to the Enderby and District Chamber of Commerce for an E-business training course.  The Electoral Area Advisory Committee had initially agreed on the provision of the grant from the rural economic development program for $9,999.  At Wednesday nights RDNO board meeting Area ‘F’ director Denis Delisle amended a motion to ‘not’ provide the funding. Delisle did not offer any explanation for the change of heart.  The motion passed unanimously.

Original: The past year has seen a record number of people pivoting to work from home due to COVID-19.

A new program being proposed by the Enderby and District Chamber of Commerce (EDCC) could see rural entrepeneurs, outside the scope of agri-business, get some training and support.

“Rural citizens can perform a number of employment activities; their opportunities to live and work from home have increased greatly in the past few years, and most notably in 2020 as remote work options have bloomed in the wake of the COVID-19 situation,” Clyde MacGregor, EDCC’s general manager, said.

The ‘Rural Business Skills Training Program’ would provide rural Enderby residents, and perhaps others in the region, with E-business training, in areas like online commerce, social media marketing and other relative work from home skills.

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“It is by using electronic options that remote workers can fully participate in their communities, derive a living income and further preserve the rural character and integrity of our region. Without such education, support and development initiatives, rural areas will be pigeonholed into a very narrow scope of economic activity,” MacGregor said.

The total project budget is just under $20,000. Electoral Area directors voted in favour of a $10,000 grant for the program. The EDCC is also seeking funding from the City of Enderby.