REBOUND Coast Economic Forum Delivers Insight and Resources to Coast Community Leaders. 

November 10, 2020  Sunshine Coast, BC.   Sunshine Coast Credit Union’s REBOUND event featured an economic analysis from Central 1 Credit Union’s Chief Economist Helmut Pastrick, business resiliency strategies by Spring Activator CEO Keith Ippel, and insight into local community sentiment by Sunshine Coast Credit Union CEO Shelley McDade.   

More than 65 people attended the online forum on November 4th, an event dedicated to assessing what has occurred, what we may expect in the future, and strategies to navigate through the second wave of the pandemic. All three speakers shared their insights and responded to questions from attendees. Insights included:  

• On the future of the economy:  “The pandemic is a once in a century occurrence. It has had very uneven impacts across the economy, across the labour market and across households as well. The outlook is very dependent on the path of the pandemic - how strong the second wave may be, when will we see a vaccine and therapeutics. At some point, we will be clear of the pandemic and when we are, I fully expect the economy will continue to grow at a faster pace for a period of time to catch up on the backlog, the pent up demand, that currently exists.” – Helmut Pastrick Chief Economist at Central 1 Credit Union 
• On the one thing that businesses can act on in the next 90 days: “Companies that are most successful in recovery are focusing on the value they offer as opposed to the features they offer. Talk to at least 35 customers in the next month. 35 people or more will give you all the patterns that you need to know about what is changing in the lives of your customers and how to adapt. The other critical piece is asking for help. Getting into the habit of sharing what is going on in your business and asking for help in your approach and process.” – Keith Ippel, CEO at Spring Activator 
• On building personal financial resiliency:   “We asked members how they felt about their finances pre-Covid compared to today. The percentage of people feeling good about their financial health is down a full 12 points (17 points for business/non profits). Understand your household capacity and put some measures in place to build that capacity. If you are not already contributing to an emergency savings on a monthly basis, please start. These monthly contributions add up very quickly and when unexpected events happen, you have those funds to help you weather through.” – Shelley McDade, CEO at Sunshine Coast Credit Union 

 “As we once again move into uncharted territory, information and insight become even more critical to individuals and leaders on the Sunshine Coast,” said McDade. “We can learn from people like Helmut and Keith, and we can also learn from and lean on one another. Now is the time to reach out and ask someone for help, or to reach out and be that help to a community colleague. Building one another up during this time is how we’ll all get to the other side, together.”    

If you missed REBOUND, a recording of the session as well as free resources for Sunshine Coast business owners and entrepreneurs can be found here:  www.sunshineccu.com/REBOUND

Free Resources and Business Grants  

• REINFORCE Online Business Resiliency Tools: Sunshine Coast Credit Union has purchased Spring’s program on behalf of all Coast businesses and non-profit organizations. Enroll for free by November 30th for a chance to win a $10,000 marketing grant.  
• REBUILD Business Grants: Sunshine Coast Credit Union has launched Round 3 of its non-repayable grant program to local businesses.  Apply by December 4th to be considered for a grant to support your business pivot. Current and new members are now eligible to apply (see full criteria and terms and conditions online).   
• ASK US ANYTHING!:  We’re hosting Ask Us Anything sessions for individuals and businesses. Have a financial question?  Register for one of our upcoming sessions to get your pressing financial queries answered!   ​

About Sunshine Coast Credit Union 

With more than $800 million in assets, Sunshine Coast Credit Union is a full-service cooperative financial institution serving up progressive solutions to more than 17,500 members through three branches and a robust digital platform. Investing in one another to build a healthy community is how we began, a vision that remains true today.  Watch: Our Story 

Media Contact:

Jodi Fichtner, CMO 

604.740.7324  

jfichtner@sunshineccu.net 

We are always here to help