Summary

This article explores the launch and growth of a Canadian venture.

Getting Started

Appropriate Subject Area(s):

Marketing, entrepreneurship, business management, consumer behaviour, human resources

Key Questions to Explore:

What is the value to the company brand when the employees are valued by the employer?

Materials Needed:

Venn Diagram

Characteristics of Invermere, B.C.

  • All season recreational community
  • Permanent population of 4,000, swells to 40,000 in summer
  • Located between two mountain ranges and on the shores of the warmest lake in the valley, Windermere Lake
  • First settled in 1890, renamed Invermere in 1909

 

Study and Discussion Activity

Introduction to lesson and task:

This lesson explores the challenges and benefits of location.

Action (lesson plan and task):

  1. Survey the class to find out who currently has or has had part-time or summer employment. What did they like best about the job?
  2. Focus the discussion on how they were/are treated at work and how they felt about their treatment.
  3. On a map, locate the town of Invermere, B.C. Describe for the class some of the characteristics of Invermere. Ask students if this is similar to or different from the community they live in.
  4. Distribute the article for reading. Allow time in class to read the article or you can distribute it at the end of class and ask students to read it for homework.
  5. In pairs, have students use the Venn diagram to identify the challenges and benefits of locating a business in a small community. In the middle of the diagram, ask them to list those items that are both challenges and benefits.
  6. Combine pairs and share the Venn diagrams.

Consolidation of Learning:

Have students individually complete a one minute paper to comment on how the employees of Kicking Horse Coffee have added value to the business.  Have them share their ideas as a class.

Success and Additional Learning

Success Criteria:

  • Students will see the connection between location and staffing in an organization.

Confirming Activity:

  • Scenario: if students were thinking of starting a venture, what criteria would they use in selecting the location for their venture?