Developing CED Enterprises
Creating, purchasing or investing in a business or other venture requires a systematic approach. This course focuses on venture development and analysis processes from the point of view of an economic development practitioner. Participants will start from regional economic analysis, follow a series of steps including selection criteria, feasibility studies, and business plans, and end with an examination of different business forms to find the one that best fits the venture.
By the end of the course, participants should understand how to:
- quickly review the demographics of their own community or region
- identify opportunities in key sectors
- apply venture selection criteria
- prepare a pre-feasibility analysis
- outline steps and content in feasibility studies and business plans
- choose the best business form for the venture
Instructor
Victor Cumming has 30 years of experience on economic development projects spanning three continents, nine provinces, and three territories, Victor is committed to helping rural communities that are experiencing rapid change or in crisis. While most see economists as experts huddled over statistics and charts, Victor believes successful rural economic development requires an ability to listen and a desire to empower people to make a difference. With this belief, and an approachable style and sense of humor, Victor has assisted individuals, organizations, and governments to prepare regional economic analyses and implement strategies that enable communities to survive and prosper. A gift for teaching and a belief in sharing knowledge has also allowed Victor to design and deliver educational programs and courses for a wide spectrum of groups, including several universities and colleges. As a talented communicator and facilitator, Victor has worked with more than 75 First Nations groups, tribal councils, and Aboriginal development corporations across Canada. Victor describes himself as a “practitioner,” applying community economic development tools in a manner that has positively changed the direction of many communities and ensured the successful completion of more than 500 economic development projects. “As an economist, I’m the plumber who fixes leaky taps,” he likes to say. Victor works from the office he built for himself next to his rural, lake-view home in Vernon, BC.
Victor has been teaching in the program since 2001.
