WELLINGTON – Oct. 9, 2024 – Three bilingual Island businesses – Fromagerie PEI, Famous Peppers Inc. and Buyers Canada – along with a well-known francophone community organization, the French Language School Board, make up the second group that will benefit from a complete and free sustainable development review and plan by the end of next spring.
Through RDÉE Prince Edward Island’s “IMPACT DD” program, these businesses and organizations will first benefit from four intensive training sessions on the principles of sustainable development (SD).
They will learn that SD is much more than better use and protection of natural resources; in fact, SD touches on environmental issues (human health and safety, preservation of ecosystems), social issues (equity to ensure human fulfillment, community development and respect for diversity) and governance issues (to ensure economic efficiency). These days, SD is often described as “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
THE PROCESS
Project coordinator Israël Poulin will help them carry out a self-diagnosis of their operations and practices to determine where they stand in their ways of thinking and operating. In the process, they will discover what they still need to do to reach the desired levels. They will then consult their stakeholders (partners, suppliers, etc.) to ensure that they are allies in their efforts; each will then form an SD committee and develop an SD plan. Each member of this second group (or cohort 2) will benefit from up to 100 hours of individual coaching.
Participants in the first cohort – the Société acadienne et francophone de l’ÎPÉ (SAF’Île), Urbainville Farms and Double Hill Cidery – are putting the finishing touches to their development plans; they’ll also keep getting implementation support until the start of 2025. All three said they had learned a lot and developed a reflex to consider all their actions through a sustainable development lens, with a view to being more efficient with all their resources (human, material, financial and natural).
Florian Enjalbal, RDÉE PEI’s community economic development manager who is in charge of the program, hopes that the new cohort will reap as many benefits from IMPACT DD as did the first.
THE SECOND GROUP
The Commission scolaire de langue française de l’ÎPÉ or French Language School Board of PEI (represented primarily by superintendent Ghislain Bernard and Éric Morency, director of communications and public affairs) manages six francophone schools across the province. It has some 279 employees delivering educational services from kindergarten to Grade 12 to 1,253 students. CSLF is embarking on this journey because “We want to be able to prepare our students to face the future world and be able to contribute to their community, their province, their country and the francophonie.” (Éric Morency is seen signing the agreement.)
Buyers Canada (owner Jean-Guy LeBlanc), located on Water Street in Summerside, buys used industrial machinery and equipment, recycles, repairs or refurbishes it, and resells it. Among other things, the company recycles and resells household, electrical, agricultural, plumbing, restaurant, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and warehousing equipment and parts.
Since 2016, La Fromagerie PEI (owner Mathieu Gallant) of Mont-Carmel has been best known for its production of “Squeak-ies” cheese curds. More recently, the company has also ventured into the production of other frozen dairy products. Its aim is to make its operations as efficient as possible, while reducing its carbon footprint as much as possible.
Famous Peppers Inc. (with David Mitchell as its CEO and Chris MacCormack as its chief operating officer) was founded in 2003. The corporation now operates Famous Peppers Pizza in Montague and Charlottetown, Crafters Smokehouse in Montague and Khoaw Pon Authentic Thai in Stratford on a year-round basis along with Hooked at Bogside and Twisted Tacos in Montague during the tourist season. In addition, it operates the Pathfinder Foods catering and cafeteria service, serving numerous schools and government offices among many others. (David Mitchell is seeen signing the agreement.)
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GROUP PHOTO: IMPACT DD (Prince Edward Island Edition) recently met with participants from the program’s second cohort to deliver the first of four training sessions. From left are program coordinator Israël Poulin, Jean-Guy LeBlanc of Buyers Canada, Éric Morency of the Commission scolaire de langue française, Mathieu Gallant of Fromagerie PEI, David Mitchell and Chris MacCormack of Famous Peppers/Pathfinder Foods and program manager Florian Enjalbal.
INDIVIDUAL PHOTOS: The members of the second group of the IMPACT DD project signed their commitment agreements during their first training session.
For further information, please contact:
ISRAËL POULIN
Provincial IMPACT DD Program Coordinator
RDÉE Prince Edward Island
(819) 991-1314
consultant.agora@gmail.com
FLORIAN ENJALBAL
Provincial IMPACT DD Program Manager
Community Economic Development Manager
RDÉE Prince Edward Island
(902) 388-2496
florian@rdeeipe.org