Although the Fraser Valley Social Purchasing Portal has not yet been formally launch, we hope to have the same kind of success that has been experienced by the Vancouver portal which was implemented in the summer of 2003. In the first eight months the Vancouver portal was live, it attracted over $300,000 of new business activity in the area resulting in the hire of 12 additional people.

Here are some of Vancouver’s success stories.

Cook Studio Catering: Creating jobs and happy customers!
Cook Studio Foodservices and its catering and foodservices division is making quite a name for itself in the city in a very short space of time. Since the catering division opened in May 2002, it has grown greatly - mainly by word of mouth. I had the pleasure of meeting with the Director of Catering and Foodservices, Richard Rheaume. He is an affable fellow and highly energetic. He gets a real charge when talking about the program he runs and how it helps others. There are two components to the program: one is for adults who are on income assistance and the other component is for youth-at-risk.

Read the full article (PDF, 100kb)

LogoTex, An Employment Success Story
LogoTex is an integral member of the Social Purchasing Portal (SPP) through Fast Track to Employment (FTE). LogoTex creates promotional products that help companies establish their corporate identities and branding; for example, they create logos on pens, cups, shirts, and other many items. LogoTex is a key business supplier. They have been in business for twenty years.

Read the full article (PDF, 100kb)