709-218-7927 The Landfall Garden House 60 Canon Bayley Road Bonavista, Newfoundland CANADA A0C 1B0 |
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Business Development
Newfoundland Subsidizes the Mainland Provinces
See also Scotiabank Bonavista and About Banks and Embryos , Questions for Councillors and Chamber of Commerce
Contention
In Newfoundland, since 1992 , small towns such as Bonavista have exclaimed a maxim "There is no work here". After thirty years of this complaint, it is time for the town to grow up.
Bonavista has many opportunities to establish profitable businesses and generate in-town revenue.
Our hurdle is the crippling belief that one only needs to work four months of the year to gain twelve months of personal income.
This sad cycle will be broken when we educate our youth to the point where they know how the rest of the world operates, rather than just teaching them to pass exams and apply for unemployment.
Proposal
Set up a never-ending series of two-man teams to develop and run a local business for a period of two years.
The examples below are a mixture of real possibilities of small business development in Bonavista, and ideas from around the world. In both cases the aim is to expose thinkers to the sorts of business opportunities that might be generated.
The message is “Put your minds to work and find a new idea”.
Example (1)
"Manufacture, sell, install and populate composting bins."
Such a business will need a written business plan, a bank loan, facilities for storage and construction, tools, marketing, advertising, sales, employees, payroll, book-keeping, logistics, material supply, and more.
This is a serious undertaking; a written history/diary must be developed on the grounds that "If it ain't written down, it don't exist", data must be captured ("Management Measures") , and predictions made, for without predictions there can be no feedback, and without feedback there can be no error-correction, and without error-correction, there is no learning and there is no growth.
Suppose two young people pursue such a small business venture, and then apply for those jobs which specify "Min. two yrs exp reqd". Our students do not have the Min Two Yrs Exp Reqd, but they do have full documentation on their efforts at establishing and running a self-contained business for two years. Only an idiot would fail to recognize the value of that experience, and who wants to work for an idiot?
Example (2)
The first business finds itself running out of scrap timber, so we set up a business to cruise around Bonavista looking for piles of scrap timber, broken fencing and the like. The business purpose is to source, collect and prepare scrap timber. The business can later be broken down into the businesses of sourcing and collecting timber, trimming timber and removing nails, even to the point of taking orders for shipments of quantities of defined-size scrap timber to be prepared and delivered to the compost bin business.
Example (3)
The first business realizes that assembling rectangular compost bins from panels can be spun off as a separate business that takes in prepared scrap timber and assembles rectangular panels and supplies nylon ties to hold the panels in place. This is a panel-kit business.
Example (4)
The first business spins off an assembly and installation business that takes in prepared panels and assembles them on-site in a configuration requested by the land owner.
Example (5)
The first business spins off a business for marketing, advertising, sales, site installation, liaison with supplies of grass clippings and sawdust from lawn-mowing contractors and chain-sawyers, negotiations with individual house owners for clippings collection, ...
Example (6)
The first business spins off a business for large-scale composting on a town site. Such a business may lease the services of the town council to turn the windrows every two months. Sale of composted soil to the town council and the general public is a source of revenue.
Example (7)
The large-scale composting business spins off a nursery business that supplies flower shops, charity sales, and individuals with indoor house-plants. This business may hold regular weekly educational sessions for the public, plant-swap meetings, and similar events.
Example (8)
The large-scale composting business spins off a nursery business that supplies popular plant seedlings to house-lots and plants them in a prepared bed, stakes them, and so on. Such a business helps start a gardening culture in town which boosts the need for compost bins and improves the profitability of the first business, and hence all the spun-off businesses.
Status
One business has spawned seven off-shoot business. We now have sixteen young people learning how to establish and run businesses. And that was all based on the development of a simple compost bin business.
What happens if two students elect to promote "re-use"? The first business in this area spawns businesses to re-use clothing, re-use appliances, re-use materials, and in turn these spawn businesses to repair clothing, repair appliances, ...
A significant part of the seasonal work force in Bonavista lies in the culinary arts. What about a business to bake bread? Make pies? Cakes? Cooked meals for distribution? Sourcing ingredients for meal preparation? This sort of business may host regular educational sessions on how to bake bread, how to make meat pies, and so on.
The list of possible businesses is not endless; there are limits, but to date, Bonavista has ignored this great opportunity to have its youth break out of the government-teat mentality.
With all these business ventures, a suggestion is made to start a coordinating business that organizes monthly seminars, offers samples of errors and mistakes, student-successful plans and proposals, supports student mentoring by students ("The best way to learn, is to teach")
Example (9) Soil Remediation
Example (10) Baking and cooking (bread, cookies, casseroles & soups)
Example (11) Live performances (drama, musical, skits)
Example (12) Pet-minding (when your are on vacation or in St John's for a couple of days)
Example (13) 12vDC applications (wind turbines)
Example (14) Rain-water systems
Example (15) Stand-alone Rain-water systems
Example (16) Knitting, crocheting, tatting etc
Example (17) Tree nursery
Example (18) Mechanical tools .
Saturday, October 26, 2024 The past week I asked the rental price of a Rotary Hoe in Conception Bay South. On a weekly basis it came to $40/day.
Example (19) Solar cookers , Solar water-heaters , solar heat-exchangers
Example (20) Rent a friend (newcomers, welcome wagon, temporary labour required, ...)
Example (21) Town-twinning, Sister cities
Example (22) Adopt-a-sheep
Example (23) Mobile Library
Example (24) Building low-gear three/four wheel "bikes"
Example (25) Painting local scenes (to hang in your house)
Example (26) Assembling re-purposed cardboard boxes
Example (27) Genealogical data of local cemeteries
Example (28) Greenhouses (small)
Example (29) Flyer Delivery
Example (30) Quilts, crisp-packet blankets , and Duvets also YouTube
Example (31) Renovation advice for new homeowners (especially those From Away)
Example (32) Outdoor carpentry - birdhouses, kennels,
Example (33) Bush Tucker for local and export consumption. ("...engaged people in a variety of social enterprises such as landscaping, screen printing and a native plant nursery ...") ("The hope is that Worn Gundidj is a stepping stone, that people will leave with the skills and confidence to go on to other work or start their own businesses."} also
Example (34) Market Garden
Example (35) Making Bonavista the daffodil/tulip/bluebell/crocus capital of the island/nation/world.
Example (36) Bonavista International Airport
Example (37) Magilligan prisoners planting trees for the future also https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68434879 . Also How a Kenyan schoolgirl fell in love with trees - “I remember at the time eating either an orange or lemon and I took the seed... and put it in the soil and then it started growing and sprouting,” adds Ellyanne. “I fell in love with what I was doing, so I planted more." This motivated her to learn about the science behind trees.
Example (38) Mini rock picker (planar trommel)
Example (39) Kite festival (produce, sell kites, prizes for first to reach 200 feet etc.). Bonavista loves to boast about “how much wind we got”, so why isn’t the wind used to power a kite festival?
Example (40) Fresh Local Flowers
Example (41) Bonavista business story https://www.therecord.com/ts/business/mars/2022/12/09/fabulous-fungi-this-canadian-startup-is-growing-a-sustainable-alternative-to-leather.html
Example (42) Workshop to help stage a show from scratch
Example (43) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-22/flavoured-pasta-business-tim-wimborne-bounces-back-from-bushfire/101771318
Example (44) 'Complete paddock to plate'
Example (45) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-26/digging-wild-clay-backyard-pottery-trend-mount-morgan/101859532
Example (46) North West Computer Museum aims to give new life to old consoles
Example (47) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-28/revival-of-rosedale-with-new-pastors-publicans-and-shop-owners/101895226
Example (48) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-28/revival-of-rosedale-with-new-pastors-publicans-and-shop-owners/101895226 I always have need of a proof-reader. There is therefore a need for a proof-reader in Bonavista. Besides having someone check my writing, I need proof-readers to test my installation techniques and applications.
Example (49) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-28/revival-of-rosedale-with-new-pastors-publicans-and-shop-owners/101895226
Example (50) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-28/revival-of-rosedale-with-new-pastors-publicans-and-shop-owners/101895226
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023-02-02/worm-farmer-vermiculture-rural-earthworms/101910900
Example (51) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-28/revival-of-rosedale-with-new-pastors-publicans-and-shop-owners/101895226 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-10/how-terrence-learnt-to-read-and-write-later-in-life/101837016 teach alpha literacy; teach numeric literacy
Example (52) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-28/revival-of-rosedale-with-new-pastors-publicans-and-shop-owners/101895226
Notes
(1) The proposal is not to establish a business that will support the two team members, but to perform every stage in the cycle of creating a business and aiming to make it break even.
(2) After ten years in full-time or part-time work, when the bright idea strikes, the person will have retained what was learned during the two-year period ten years before.
(3) Although Canadian currency is a useful unit of measurement, the goal here is to train young people, not to create a business that supports two people.
(4) The focus being on learning, we do not think of a compost bin as extruded plastic from a large industrial facility; we think of a creative approach using local resources.
(5) A community-based approach rather than a formal educational. That is, bypass the cumbersome education departments and institute a committee of four or five local people.
(6) Think "they are learning" rather than "I am teaching them"
(7) "_______ is not happy with the course he is doing. He’s excellent in everything but math. He has applied to the Armed Forces. This town will hold him back, I understand that. There’s nothing here for young people."
(8) I anticipate that participants will make occasional short presentations to their peers in high school. Making presentations is a part of establishing and managing a business.
Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Example (53) The OBE was a joke - it actually says in brackets "Over Bloody Eighty" on the Certificate which arrives in a bronze frame! All members of the Over 50's Association who reach the age of 80 years receive one of these framed certificates. All good fun!!
Wednesday, March 01, 2023
Example (54) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-64797682
Saturday, March 18, 2023
Example (55) https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/bonavista-er-rally-confederation-building-1.6779699 What is it about Bonavista that is so bad that we have to pay doctors a $100,000 per year bonus to work here?
Monday, March 20, 2023
Example (56) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-20/central-queensland-university-medical-students-work-local-region/102109512
Saturday, March 25, 2023
Example (57) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-25/dalgety-australia-post-office-reopen-to-resume-mail-delivery/102140296
Sunday, April 09, 2023
Example (58) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-09/care-for-africa-diana-butler-template-sustainable-charity/102195124 "Once you have people educated, they need business, they need to make money," she said. "[Then] they are not dependent on the donor, and at the end of the day that's what sustainability is about."
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Example (59) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-19/she-couldnt-go-to-mars-dianne-mcgrath-circumnavigating-earth/102224540
Saturday, April 22, 2023
Example (60) Food Services
Sunday, April 23, 2023
Example (61) Publishing House
Monday, April 24, 2023
Example (62) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-23/meg-and-her-miniature-horses-a-popular-oberon-attraction/102153060
Monday, April 24, 2023
Example (63) Bonavista doesn’t have a public sewing service?
Thursday, April 27, 2023
Example (64) Tiny Houses: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-27/tiny-homes-red-tape-housing-crisis-regulation/102207374
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Example (65) With no money coming in or work to be had , fears for future mount as FFAW digs in its heels on Newfoundland and Labrador crab standoff.
“It would be aid for people like the plant workers at Bonavista who now have no income.” And ““Right now, I worry for everybody in this industry,” she said, noting she has a son who is a deckhand on a crab boat. He’s not making any money either right now.”
Bonavista, like many other towns, appears to be as dependent on the crab processing plant as they were on cod fish 30+ years ago. Why is this? Because in essence Bonavista is a one-business town. Bonavista does not have a pool of businesses that can absorb some of the work force. “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”
Of course, if someone offered a small householder like me crab at $2.20 per pound, I’d be on it like a shot, but chances are that the entire harvest is tied up in a long-term contract to supply overseas buyers, and crab taken from the sea a few miles from where I live cannot be purchased off-the-boat right here in town.
Suppose that, as of old, a little green van drove around Bonavista every Thursday ringing its bell, like the knife-sharpener or the peddler, I’d have my little sign up on the book bin telling the peddler to walk to my door and make a sale – possibly of whatever they had – and save myself a trip to the supermarket.
Sunday, April 30, 2023
Example (66) Plant pots from egg cartons and concrete
Thursday, May 04, 2023
Example (67) The solution to generational change in a neighborhood like this isn't going to be quick,
Thursday, May 04, 2023
Example (68) Rent-a-Herd
Saturday, May 06, 2023
Example (69) https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023-05-06/unlikely-new-generation-of-farmers-supplying-top-restaurants/102252730
Tuesday, May 09, 2023
Example (70) https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/lessons-from-the-loom-1.6827813
Thursday, May 25, 2023
Example (71) Consider offering a service to document every plant, shrub, and tree in someone’s yard. A one-off survey would take the best part of a day to search out every type of plant, and a day or more to document them. Use PlantSnap or LeafSnap or similar. A smaller service would provide a drop-in or drop-out service for individual plants.
Saturday, June 10, 2023
Example (72) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-10/wa-boy-writes-book-about-exmouth-earns-money/102445616
Monday, June 12, 2023
Example (73) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-65786652 "It's a passion project and is something I never thought I would do [as a job] - it was just marketing on social media, really, it's quite surreal."
Wednesday, June 14, 2023
Example (74) Consider starting a bait shop; either earthworms of Red Wrigglers. The latter may be generated on a production line using 2-pound or 3-pound margarine tubs.
Thursday, June 15, 2023
Example (75) City Slickers, Dude ranch, Dude fishing boat for a day. Sail out to nearby ground, set, haul, clean, sail back.
Example (76) Tower Vermicomposters: Build and sell around Bonavista.
Saturday, June 17, 2023
Example (77) Dropout Chai Walla open a tea house. Could be as simple as a single room with direct access to outside. Tea served. Walkers drop in for a twenty-minute sit, chat. Open long hours, but provides teas, regular and local. Consider Dandelion Tea
Tuesday, July 04, 2023
Example (78) Clacton : The place where one in five has never had a job
Friday, July 07, 2023
Saturday, July 08, 2023
Example (80) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-08/build-your-own-tiny-home-courses/102572494
Monday, July 10, 2023
Example (81) https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230706-ansel-adams-eight-of-the-most-iconic-photos-of-the-american-west
Friday, July 14, 2023
Example (82) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-13/dapto-high-school-students-plant-tiny-forest-wollongong/102565816
Example (83) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-14/adopt-a-cow-and-other-farm-animals-as-pets/102586418
Example (84) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-14/wellshot-hotel-outback-queensland-publican-tracy-hatch/102586838
Monday, July 17, 2023
Example (85) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAxlQ5kY9Hg Preserve Newfoundland dialects.
Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Example (86) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-25/crafting-my-story-removing-barriers-for-multicultural-women/102641946
Example (87) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-25/tamworth-dolly-parton-imagination-library-730/102643392
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Example (88) https://watch.ntv.ca/webcams/ A business to set up web cams in tourist spots.
Sunday, July 30, 2023
Example (89) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-30/geelong-victoria-choir-providing-community-connection/102664434
Tuesday, August 01, 2023
Example (90) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/newfoundland-coast-iceberg-alley Forget about the implications of climate change. Today’s icebergs are already a difficult target. Yet hundreds of people drive up from St John’s (3.5 hours each way) at the chance of seeing “an iceberg”. They buy a coffee, lunch, and a coffee for the trip back. Suppose that every house lot in Bonavista sported two fruit trees in blossom. Suppose that every house lot in Bonavista sported a patch of daffodils, a patch of tulips, a patch of bluebells, hyacinth or crocus? Bonavista would have a steady stream of visitors for the blossom and flower intervals. Sell more coffee! Sell more lunches!! Sell more postcards, sell more flowering bulbs or fruit trees.
Wednesday, August 02, 2023
Example (91) https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-scotland-66376051 Many of these links follow this mode: No suggestion that the post office deliver mail by drone in Bonavista, but rather that drone technology can provide services that are otherwise unavailable. Courier, small-item delivery, and so on.
Thursday, August 10, 2023
Example (92) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-10/giant-aboriginal-art-years-in-making-sprouting-acoss-wa/102711838 Newfoundland has hills. Why not a series of artistic endeavors alongside the TCH (like The Uffington White Horse )
Friday, August 11, 2023
Example (93) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-11/students-transform-fashion-waste-into-community-windfall/102640706
Saturday, August 12, 2023
Example (94) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-12/goulburn-residents-fund-and-build-solar-farm-for-local-power/102621222
Example (95)
Sunday, September 03, 2023
Example (96) One in six Welsh shops are now empty
Sunday, September 10, 2023
Example (97) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-09/from-plastic-bread-tags-to-art-installations/102804940
Example (98) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-10/michael-reid-book-man-saves-books-landfill-central-victoria/102821806
Example (99) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-10/lucinda-legendary-fisherman-pelican-bob/102815038
Example (100) I have often thought about walking the trail from Station Road. The incline looks narrow enough. Suppose a narrow-gauge track was laid up the slope to where it reaches the highway. Or failing that, a graded track with rubber-tired wheels (see “Billy Butlin’s” ). Low fares to offset costs. Perhaps the rubber-tired train could roam the Bonavista circuit? Please see also https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-15/miniature-railway-network-katanning-wa-spreads-joy/102844968
Example (101) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-10/teenagers-volunteer-for-meals-on-wheel-service-in-denham/102824240
Example (102) https://edition.cnn.com/travel/san-francisco-tourism-troubles/index.html This article is less than start-a-business as Look At The Impact Of PEOPLE Visiting, wandering the streets. This is a boot-strapping process. The more people we see sitting, browsing, walking the streets, with storefronts to visit, the more attractive the place becomes, and visitors return home to talk about their experience.
Open up three vacant storefronts on Church Street and watch the strolling visitors drop in. It wouldn’t hurt to have a pamphlet (it doesn’t need to be glossy) mapping every teenage business startup.
Example (103) https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023-09-11/dog-treats-agrifutures-rural-women-pet-food-insect-emma-gibbons/102819988
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-11/riverland-community-crafting-offering-safe-space/102785772
Example (104) Back to the first eight examples at the head of this document: The process of trimming and grading the basic used-timber stock will have as a byproduct chips and thin sticks of timber. This material can be reduced in size to make kindling for fires; stored under cover for at least two months, and than marketed as kindling for fires. Another little business that generates revenue.
Example (105) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-66739260
Monday, September 18, 2023
Example (106) https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/09/18/news/can-rural-fishing-community-write-new-chapter
Friday, September 22, 2023
Example (107) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-22/skills-gap-program-sees-young-teacher-fall-in-love-with-outback/102878468
Example (108) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3Mv1tGLUPU
Example (109) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-22/volunteer-visits-ease-social-isolation-seniors/102886448
Sunday, September 24, 2023
Example (110) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-24/plant-stand-helps-community-blossom/102885194
Friday, September 29, 2023
Example (111) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-66948446 Contract, after door-knocking, to collect small collections of bottles for recycling. Team in with the hazardous waste collection. Branch to larger deposit schemes not yet available in Bonavista.
Example (112) Door-knocking: build a list of contacts in Bonavista who are willing to be contacted regularly about Bonavista Business Services
Example (113) World Wide Waste (Bricks, Shoes, Sand, Baskets, Cooking Fuel, Furniture, …)
Saturday, September 30, 2023
Example (114) https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023-09-30/damian-manno-marlon-motlop-indigenous-herb-growing/102913602
Example (115) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-66966056
Sunday, October 01, 2023
Example (116) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-01/scam-buster-justin-williams-port-fairy-back-closures-old-victims/102765350
Friday, October 13, 2023
Example (117) I am sending a package off to Australia for Christmas, and cannot find a Newfoundland-themed card in Bonavista, let alone a Bonavista-themed card. How about a small business using local images, with generic title messages “Merry Christmas”, “Happy Birthday”, and “Thinking of You”? Standard size cards mean standard-sized envelopes. It’s a start.
Saturday, October 14, 2023
Example (118) Bonavista town and the surrounding countryside abounds in fruits, vegetables, berries and similar vegetable products. Consider a local dyeing service where you offer to dye, initially white linen garb, to a specified colour. If Riffs ever gets around to stocking handkerchiefs, you could start by experimenting with sample handkerchiefs dyed in a magenta shade made after you have boiled your beets for preserving!
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
Example (119) For your local area make an alphabet book along the lines of the “ I Spy ” series in the UK in the 50s. A specific example: for Bonavista make a 26-page booklet with a tree or shrub for each letter of the alphabet. Couple this with a guided tour for, well, tourists. “A” is for Aspen.
Note that a town with historic features can have its own booklet. “M” is for Mockbeggar. Newfoundland can have provincial dishes “J” is for Jiggs dinner.
See also A world-first in the Scottish Highlands
Thursday, October 26, 2023
Example (120) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-26/albany-free-breakfast-in-the-park-tuesday-about-community/103019370
Saturday, October 28, 2023
Example (121) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-28/bonegilla-language-program-75-year-anniversary/103026562
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Example (122) https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20231025-bornholm-the-danish-island-aiming-for-zero-waste "When we went to the central administration in Copenhagen, our message was pretty much always the same: ‘We're from Bornholm, we have difficulties with this, that or the other, can you help us in some way?' - very often with money," he says. "And I was thinking, instead of always being the ones who show up and say, 'we have a problem', what if we were the ones who showed up and said 'we have a solution for the rest of you'?" Note that this town has a problem that has simmered as long as have Bonavista’s.. The article also mentions an on-commission shelf/table market for unwanted goods (as I met in Stratford? Twenty years ago)
Example (123) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-29/how-mirrool-s-silo-kick-put-small-riverina-town-on-the-map/103021478 Now this looks feeble; after all, a business to maintain a Saturday-afternoon event just once a year is no big deal. But what if every hamlet on the Bonavista peninsula hosted an event on a Saturday? There being, say, fifty Saturdays in the year, there is a need for a business that co-ordinates each event and maintains communication between the towns. (We don’t need thirteen towns each hosting a “blast the hockey puck” event) “The following is a list of the 9 incorporated towns on the Bonavista Peninsula” and “The following is a list of the 41 unincorporated communities on the Bonavista Peninsula
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Example (124) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-31/deniliquin-sister-cities-ukraine-lozova-bill-hetherington/103038268 Maybe not so much a willy-nilly of sister towns, but sister-towns-on-the-same-latitude. That gives far-latitude towns an easier task than mid- or near-latitude towns.
Monday, November 06, 2023
Example (125) https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023-11-06/sustainable-agriculture-community-supported-regenerative-farming/102982086
Tuesday, November 07, 2023
Example (126) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PqGlT23FTg Fence Basket Bracket.
Thursday, November 09, 2023
Example (127) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-09/used-hotel-soap-recycling-program-melbourne/103074122
Example (128) https://edition.cnn.com/travel/laos-buffalo-dairy-luang-prabang-cmd/index.html
Example (129) https://edition.cnn.com/furniture-design-cardboard-artist-cop28/index.html
Example (130) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUtVSAg-zsE
Thursday, November 23, 2023
Example (131) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-23/how-candle-maker-started-her-own-business-on-quandialla-farm/103005538
Friday, November 24, 2023
Example (132) Tasmanian Produce Collective https://www.tasproduceco.com.au/home and https://openfoodnetwork.org.au/southern-hub/shop#/shop
Sunday, November 26, 2023
Example (133) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-67519246 "It is not just somewhere where people buy groceries, it is somewhere people can come, chat, find the craic," he said.
Saturday, December 02, 2023
Example (134) Make sawdust logs . (No cheating by watching YouTube!). Note that you do NOT need a powered or hydraulic press for this manufacture. Bonavista is loaded with sawdust sources.
Sunday, December 03, 2023
Example (135) https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023-12-03/goat-farming-industry-attracts-queensland-women/103171894 despite laws on distributing fresh milk, goats are valuable tools. For example: clearing vacant land of weed growth while avoiding concrete and steel material.
Friday, December 08, 2023
Example (136) Explore/Investigate legal requirements for (a) A co-operative in general in Newfoundland and (b) a food-supply co-operative in Newfoundland. These are investigative steps towards starting a co-op grocery store. (c) A credit-union/co-operative.
Newfoundland-Labrador Federation of Co-operatives
Friday, December 08, 2023
Example (137) Build and install kits for hydroponic vegetables.
Monday, December 11, 2023
Example (138) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-10/teenagers-compile-books-of-memoirs-highlighting-elderly-resident/103165296
Monday, December 18, 2023
Example (139) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-18/disability-housing-shortage-port-lincoln-eyre-peninsula-sa/103227922 I think that I may have put forward a variation on this idea already; if so please let me know. But I think of a “disability” service that uses a roster/rotational list of people with, say, mobility problems. Everything from a drop-in “Are you still OK” that van take under five minutes to running errands.
Example (140) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-19/st-mark-s-anglican-church-in-elmhurst-fruit-cake-fundraiser/103109898
Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Example (141) How to Establish as Community Supported Agriculture Project CSA This is more than community gardening (my interest!) but a basic plan for a community-centred business.
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Example (142) Buy a set of boomerangs, organize a one-day contest, then start making and selling boomerangs for each succeeding year’s competitions.
Tuesday, December 26, 2023
Example (143) In its 10 years, the YBCS has raised more than $40,000 for charities and local families going through tough times
Saturday, January 06, 2024
Let us harvest population data. Explicitly, a breakdown in age-groups of ten years in Bonavista over the past fifty years.
Monday, January 08, 2024
Example (144) https://lavenderfederationtrail.au/maps/ Map and time walking/cycling trails all around Bonavista. Start with a standard short walk/cycle so that people can compare their speed to yours and hence adjust your estimates to fit theirs. Include coffee-shops and public toilets.
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Example (145) I like the idea of an “Information” session, where citizens come in and explain matters regarding the town I might have mentioned Welcome Wagon in this list, but Bonavista has a need for session that new residents attend. Welcome! Here is a list of current services in Bonavista”, and by services I mean the lady who cuts hair in her home, the various second-hand winter-coats-and-boots stores in town, where to get indoor plants, and so on..
Sunday, January 14, 2024
Example (146) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-14/off-grid-postal-service-helps-community-connect-with-one-another/103311514 Note that in Canada there is a service, now embedded in Canada Post, for printing Canada Post stamps with your own design. I did this from 2000 through 2019. I suspect that there remains a service for printing stamps for use NOT through Canada Post.
Monday, January 15, 2024
Example (147) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-15/alternative-shopping-methods-rise-amid-supermarket-anger/103316612
Friday, January 19, 2024
Example (148) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecu1LkHkKRE How To Make A Simple Bucket Seat – Also Known As A Bomber Seat – From Plywood
Sunday, January 21, 2024
Example (149) Regular onion-skins can dye notepaper yellow and beetroot juice is good for magenta, and if the paper is dried properly it adopts a look and feel of hand-made paper!
Example (150) Snow Shovel for Seniors
Friday, January 26, 2024
Example (151) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-27/esperance-community-turns-marine-debris-into-art/103394306 (“Do you get much rope washed up on your beaches or is there a fishing industry that discards rope? There may be a good opportunity for a local artist to get involved in upcycling. I'd definitely be happy to mentor someone (free of charge).”)
Saturday, January 27, 2024
Example (152) https://ntv.ca/made-right-here-stitch-it-alterations/ along with many more links to local businesses.
Thursday, February 08, 2024
Example (153) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-08/kentucky-store-sale-village-coop-community-save-closure/103419088 I confess to being moved by this article. Walkham’s café was a community hub where I learned a great deal, met many people during my first year here. I think that a go-op store could help to reduce grocery prices in town, especially non-perishable goods. But even a co-op café, year-round would be a boost to the town. Tourist season is served by four-month cafes, but the local residents are not served at all.
Thursday, February 08, 2024
Example (154) Low-key grocery delivery by bicycle? Hills are a problem for me, perhaps not so much for younger legs and lower-geared bicycles. Small quantities of groceries as the average age of residents provides an ever-increasing market.
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Example (155) https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-02-10/biodiversity-hotspot-lockdown-housemates-brisbane-species/103210874
This is a feel-good story for scientists, for sure. But it starts me thinking ... this "public science" idea has been around for a long time. In this case the three students are already keen on the environment (ecology), naming (taxonomy) and counting-past-a -hundred (Maths - GRIN!), so it was an idea waiting to happen. I felt a bit of it last year when I started "Plants of 60 Canon Bayley Road", and I should have been working on that this winter with indoors plants. Well, I said to myself, what this needs is a "kit" to establish a diary, a simple sheet to let the amateur get down towards the detail level, examples of what to collect (to identify) etc. I bet that you could collect samples from right across the island by the end of your first year. Maybe elementary schools would accept the challenge?
Saturday, February 17, 2024
Example (156) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-17/longreach-graziers-james-manny-walker-buy-veterinary-clinic/103474780
Saturday, February 17, 2024
Example (157) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-17/ziga-dorkic-solar-powered-van/103472376 Since I arrived here five years ago I have fallen victim to false logic; the general consensus in Bonavista is “there’s not enough sunlight for Solar Energy”. The article “How Ziga Dorkic built a solar powered electric van from a boxy Daihatsu he bought for $100” tells a different story.
Sunday, February 18, 2024
Example (158) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-18/sydney-food-coop-reduces-grocery-bill/103467968
Thursday, February 22, 2024
Example (159) Start a Guide Dog Training Group
Monday, February 26, 2024
Example (160) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-26/garden-group-helping-older-women-mental-health/103494454 Consider BV as a town with lots of unused land in residential backyards; think of using one backyard per street block to grow a specific vegetable or fruit. This provides a casual meeting agenda for the people who live alone and have a back-yard.
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Example (161) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-27/black-stump-history-tourist-attraction-paringa-sa-qld-nsw/103484160
Example (162) Make and export cod-mobiles.
“Norma & Gladys” by Garry Cranford, Flanker Press
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Example (163) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-27/everlastings-pinking-up-the-hood-in-geraldton-gardeners/103514182
Saturday, March 02, 2024
Example (164) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-02/boggabilla-recording-studio-empowers-indigenous-young-people/103493640
Sunday, March 03, 2024
Example (165) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY5mUApkXHA
Monday, March 04, 2024
Example (166) Consider an energy-reporting scheme. A device that plugs into an outlet – for example between the ‘fridge and the wall socket – and reports usage as a chart of KW vs. time-of-day. Helps people identify where their electrical energy is being used.
Example (167) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-04/second-wind-for-ex-defence-vehicles-australian-defence-force/103528644 Sixty years ago in The Yilgarn, several wheat farmers used Combat tanks as tractors to pull ploughing equipment. Now a report about dismissed vehicles. Is there a business to contract the purchase of rugged vehicles suitable for the Newfoundland “outback”, clean them up, check the engines, sell them for rent to tourists (who don’t want their city cars to get dirty) or camping and so on?
Saturday, March 09, 2024
Example (168) Print unique Bonavista greetings cards. Aluminum Foil Lithography & Pasta Maker Press
Friday, March 15, 2024
Example (169) Start a twice-yearly musical and vocal awards show in Bonavista, candidates from the Bonavista peninsula.
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Example (170) Reorganizing someone’s space takes some skill and intelligence. But more than that, a fresh mind is almost enough. Consider using your fresh mind to help people organize their mess.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Example (171) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-19/return-and-earn-recycling-refunds-pay-for-wedding/103587790
Thursday, March 21, 2024
Example (172) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-21/worm-healthy-benefits-farmers-agriculture/103605736
Friday, March 22, 2024
Example (173) https://www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/post/these-teens-are-selling-solar-eclipse-glasses-to-help-endangered-butterflies
Sunday, March 24, 2024
Example (174) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-24/human-lego-man-retires-after-cancer-council-sa-walk/103620046
Sunday, March 31, 2024
Example (175) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-31/merino-wool-judging-competition-for-country-kids/103634456
Sunday, April 07, 2024
Example (176) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-07/early-morning-centre-fundraising-canberra-boy/103672454
Monday, April 08, 2024
Example (177) https://ntv.ca/our-time-local-teen-collects-e-waste/ Note that recycling is NOT the goal; re-use. Bonavista dump provides a source of useful components; a related business would be a supply of parts.
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Example (178) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-10/byron-bay-laundry-provides-a-beacon-of-hope-for-northern-rivers/103687714
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Example (179) Start a local, non-chartered bank to offer loans to teenagers who need startup cash for their ventures.
Friday, April 12, 2024
Example (180) What about a business to lure other teenagers to Bonavista? Make an attractive deal and gain enthusiasm and energy?
Example (181) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-12/only-camel-milk-dairy-in-nsw-hunter-valley/103453790
Saturday, April 13, 2024
Example (182) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-13/vanuatu-vviririki-resort-jewel-casino-shut-down/103700516 “Still, Mr. Boudier thinks conferences could be a good avenue for businesses to try. "By having the right marketing from the conference side of it, we could attract good corporate people," he said.”
Monday, April 15, 2024
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Example (184) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-15/first-timers-club-sports-team-alternative-new-friends-melbourne/103682338
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Example (185) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-28/how-singing-in-choirs-can-help-brains-recover-from-burnout/103710820
Saturday, May 04, 2024
Example (186) Side hustle foodies turning homes into takeaways
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Example (187) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-13/bochara-crash-anniversary-12-months-youth-centre-mental-health/103795496
Example (188) https://ntv.ca/corner-brook-rnc-holding-public-events-to-celebrate-police-week/ I’m not sure how this might work. I have previously mentioned each of the 52 small towns in Newfoundland hosting annual weekend event at a time of year best suited to their activities. For one town to sponsor 52 weekend events is a big call, but look at it from your tourist visitor’s point of view: You have driven to Bonavista to visit family or friends or out of sheer curiosity, and behold! There is a festival this weekend! I grant you it might be quiet, but a sign board on entry to town tells you want it is and where it is. It is something to do, and the opportunity for locals and visitors to interact about whatever else is on offer this weekend. A bit like a Tourist Information Centre, but open all year round. And remember, a good word from one visitor gets passed on to ten more potential visitors.
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Example (189) https://www.todocanada.ca/10-must-visit-towns-to-add-to-your-newfoundland-trip/ Bonavista appears often enough in a ToDo list of “things to do and see in Newfoundland” and similar articles. This article includes the phrase “Bonavista’s events take place over summer and fall” which makes me wonder how we are to entertain or welcome people who arrive in the other eight months. Can we create a pool of residents who are willing to be short-term guides? Offer a coffee?
Thursday, May 16, 2024
The woman who built up Edinburgh's army of street stitchers "stitch it, don't ditch it"
Saturday, May 18, 2024
Example (190) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-18/kids-learn-financial-literacy-maths-selling-lemonade-horse-poo/103824402
Friday, May 24, 2024
Example (191) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-24/bass-coast-rents-put-housing-out-of-reach/103464810 Perhaps a rental scheme in the co-operative sense, whereby a house can house as many BBB members as there are bedrooms. Dignity for Dollars, each building being run by a member of the BBB. Maybe houses obtained in pairs so that the two owners co-operate in managing two dwellings.
Example (192) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-24/bank-closures-in-regional-australia-inquiry-final-eport-released/103889954 Could a local BV bank safely hold enough cash to keep the town fluid? If so, how is it done?
Example (193) https://ntv.ca/your-community-garage-sale-in-support-of-palliative-care-patients-in-ukraine/ A team (of two) helps people publicize and organize garage sales over one or more days.
Sunday, May 26, 2024
Example (194) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-26/sachets-small-packagings-huge-problems/103856656 Is there scope for a refill store in Bonavista?
Example (195) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-26/guildford-residents-fight-to-save-general-store-as-co-op/103856410 How would you re-open a replacement for Walkham’s café in another building? Perhaps as a co-op café – PWYC and post a weekly/monthly financial statement. How can people who do not have $5,000 to buy a share manage to become shareholders? How might you pay/reward regular staff?
Sunday, May 26, 2024
Example (196) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6shuFSBCUs Even without the fancy equipment, one might fabricate thong sandals (“flip-flops”) from car tyres, while-you-watch!
Monday, May 27, 2024
Example (197) https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/26/us/missouri-daken-kramer-school-lunch-debt/index.html I am not suggesting that we use fifth-graders to drive the town’s economy, as much as to urge you, reading this page right now, to keep an open mind. Things that you think are not possible MIGHT be possible. Not every fifth-grader can raise $7,300, but that one fifth-grader has done it shows that something CAN be done.
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
Example (198) https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx88nq5jy57o this is a long shot, I know, but what about the long-term project of restoration of the rusting train gear down by the old station? Organize a multi-year project to scrape and grind and paint the shells, if nothing else.
Friday, May 31, 2024
Example (199) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-30/green-shed-closes-for-good-but-vinnies-to-takeover/103904792
Saturday, June 08, 2024
Example (200) https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0vvx53n3nno Design the world’s most portable hammock, for children’s backyard camps or hikes along a trail by adults.
Sunday, June 09, 2024
Example (201) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-09/australia-leaning-tower-of-pisa-replica-albany/103932978
Example (202) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-09/sunshine-coast-hinterland-bid-for-dark-sky-reserve-status/103929006 (Note: because of the sun’s tilt added to Earth’s tilt, the southern hemisphere peers almost directly (86 degrees) into the heart of our galaxy.
Thursday, June 13, 2024
Example (203) https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cl44md3zj81o
Friday, June 14, 2024
Example (204) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-14/newcastle-school-donates-uniforms-to-fijian-students/103918134
Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Example (205) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-03/scented-candles-for-national-gallery-exhibition/104048310
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Example (206) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-10/supermarket-alternative-co-ops-save-money/104078660
Example (207) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-10/former-rough-sleeper-starts-charity-to-feed-brisbane-homeless/104076454
Saturday, July 20, 2024
Example (208) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-20/tom-price-coffee-van-uniting-community/104094350
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Example (209) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-21/bega-circular-economy-renewable-target-sustainable-waste/104108834 “There's one council, one airport, and just two roads in and out; we can measure everything in this valley," he said.
Thursday, July 25, 2024
Example (210) https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2024-07-25/arnhem-land-farm-delivering-fresh-produce-to-remote-communities/104109364
Example (211) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-24/pay-day-with-designer-jordan-gogos/104068566
Monday, July 29, 2024
Example (212) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-28/ariarne-titmus-eiffel-tower-paris-2024-olympic-games-gold/104063998 NOT a way for Bonavista to field an Olympic swim team, but a suggestion that each major city has an iconic structure. Toronto has the CN Tower; Sydney has the Harbour Bridge (and the Opera House), London (UK) has … Consider that year-by-year Bonavista adopts a city and its icon, builds the icon, showcases one of that city/nation’s dishes on its menus, …
Saturday, August 03, 2024
Example (213) Did you know that community newsletter magazines are by far the most read and trusted sources for community news? W
Sunday, August 04, 2024
Example (214) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-04/nyngan-hotel-pub-renovation-helps-outback-community/104085814
Example (215) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-04/tackling-fashion-waste-at-the-source/104059162
Thursday, August 15, 2024
Example (216) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-15/young-people-fight-loneliness-with-park-picnic-social-connection/104102092
Saturday, September 07, 2024
Example (217) Seed trays.
Vegetable prices are going up (Do they ever go down?) and Bonavista has a short growing season, so there should be a demand for home-gardeners to get a head-start on savings.
Seed trays are made from scraps of old timber. I carry on assembly of seed trays. Remember that this exercise has its roots in “making space in my shed” and to that end I arrived at a stage where I had a collection of short (four feet or less) pieces of 2x1 spruce timber. I had already collected the off cuts of pressed boards from David’s new garage.
I use the circular saw to cut the 2x1 to 12” lengths, a standard length. I group the off cuts into fours and pin them together by hammering in two 2.5” #10 wood screws at each corner in a lapped or butt joint. Nothing fancy here.
I then saw the chipboard off cuts into 13” squares. Not exactly. If a piece is 14” then I leave it at 14”. This means that each base has an overlap on at least one side.
A 2.5” wood screw hammered in at each corner suffices.
Consider a small business of promoting seedlings. You offer seed trays AND a set of vegetable seeds AND short workshops on how and when to plant the seeds, secrets of germination and on-site workshops for setting seeds in outside beds.
Of course you will need to be supplied with seedling soil from the Soil Remediation business …
Monday, October 14, 2024
Example (218) Volunteer group dedicated to harvesting, distributing surplus urban fruit
Now how might this be applied in Bonavista? Consider a “bottling plant”, a local home or shed where pulped apples can be bottled in screw-top jars. You drop off a cardboard carton, labeled with your name. The carton contains YOUR empty jars, each with a lid. The plant taxes you at one jar per carton regardless of size, so the more jars in your carton, the lower your tax.
The business chops out the cores (can be used to seed more orchards!) and boils then bottles a batch of apples.
In the news item the output is split three ways: owner/community/business, but do what you want.
Bonavista could, in less than one year, be completely independent of apple puree, and spend its grocery money on food that cannot be grown here
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Example (219) (CICO) Letchworth State Park is a “Carry In – Carry Out” State Park . Examine this concept in the USA and in Canada, sometimes known as Pack-In Pack-Out, and plan to turn the town of Bonavista into such a site. That means no coffee-cups or pop cans alongside our roads and streets and highways, for one thing.
Saturday, November 09, 2024
Example (220) https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-09/sustainable-plastics-solutions-farm-plastic-recycling-startup/104333916 “At the end of the presentation, they were surprised when people approached them about seed funding the business. "When you're starting out, banks don't touch you. The government doesn't touch you until you've been running for X number of years. You think you're going to have to go to a venture capital company in the city," she said. "But this was literally done off the backs of local people."
Sunday, November 24, 2024
Example (221) FL>>> What's new in Thornhill? Well, I have a new hobby to keep me going through the dark and cold winter days - leather working. I was cleaning out my basement last winter and came across boxes of leather hides (for flight jackets) that I packed away 35 years ago when I closed my aviation business. The hides, for the most part, are in great shape. I started making cardholders and wallets which expanded to leather slippers, sandals for Imma, and old-time soft cover sketchbook for my granddaughter. Now I'm working on an over-the-shoulder leather messenger bag for my son Colin (last in-progress pic). I'm really enjoying the work and like that each project is sufficiently different to have it's own learning curve.
Bonavista admits a certain number of Moose hunters each year; why not make use of the hides for sale in the three gift shops?
Monday, November 25, 2024
Example (222) This Youtube Video demonstrates several uses for a specific hatchet. Supposing you have some bush craft skills, such as lighting a fire or making a shelter. Start a set of workshops to pass on your knowledge of traveling in the wild.
Sunday, December 01, 2024
Example (223) Make Advent Calendars (and Easter Calendars, and … calendars)
The 'magical' advent calendar that's as big as a town hall
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Example (224) You attend MUN i9n St John’s and drive down each Monday morning and back to Bonavista each Friday afternoon. Draw up a Business Plan (one page only) and a Budget Spreadsheet (one page only) For a small business that supplies a discount grocery store in Bonavista with low-cost groceries from a NoFrills (or similar) discount store in St John’s.