Community Identity, Tourism & Economic Development…
Communications for Area “B”:
Goals: Website and Newsletter
We want to tell our stories through this Community Portal. We will be connecting to people within our own community and beyond. We will share our landscape - Identify clearly who we are and increase our potential!
•Assess our potential through area meetings.
The Structure is Director Kettle’s APC committee & sub committee's such as the communication's; we are taking on the task of compiling information from the communities within this region of study and reporting back so it is a fair and equitable process so every community is heard.
•The starting point will be mapping of assets:
Clearly Identify community resources;
Tourist locations, Industry, Businesses;
Physical buildings & Sites: Playgrounds, Halls, Schools; People assets- Associations, Volunteers, Professionals;
•Vision Statement for Area
Goat Mountain Soap Company
Building companies from the ground up and playing a role in maintaining healthy and virbrant communities, business people across the Kootenays indeed need to be recognized for their hard work. This is why we at Kootenay Business are proud to once again showcase some of this region's top talent, who continue to create a positive business environment and better communities in the Kootenays.
Marlene and Mike Mitchell
Combining a sense of humour, imagination and some livestock, Marlene Mitchell and her husband, Mike, have built up a successful business selling soap with names such as Beaver Butt, Moose Spit, Salmon Slobber and Bear Breath; they claim that no animals—or humans—are harmed in the process
Travellers driving through Yahk will often turn off the highway to have a closer look at the unassuming roadside store with the goats on the roof. In fact, the Goat Mountain Soap Company has been noticed far and wide, and has landed Marlene and Mike Mitchell a contract to sell some of their Canadian-themed soaps at Epcot Center in Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Marlene is the creator of the cleverly named all-natural soaps. She began making soap out of her own kitchen to fulfil her desire to have a home-based business after their daughter was born.
"At one point, we had a hundred bars of soap in our house and wondered how we were going to get rid of it," laughed Marlene.
That has proven not to be an issue. Besides hitting the shelves in Disney World, Goat Mountain Soap Company products are in high demand in bath boutiques, cruise ships and trade fairs across North America—and this has all happened prior to the start of their fourth year in business.
'The Mitchells’ dedication to innovation has been responsible for the Canadian wilderness-themed soaps that have been selling as fast as Marlene can make them. But that hasn't stopped her from experimenting with new creations, including glow-in-the-dark soaps and a line of body lotions, foot butters and massage oils.
"We're always trying to stay one step ahead," said Mike. "We're setting our sights high."
—Article by Tanya Laing Moore
