Canadian Olympic soccer player, Amy Vermeulen wearing a sports bag made by Common Thread (photo courtesy of Common Thread)

In Vancouver’s inner-city a unique cooperative called Common Thread weaves together opportunities for residents. Comprised of five organizations with sewing programs, this cooperative social enterprise takes sourced materials (donated or recycled) and repurposes them into tote bags, backpacks, and other products. Common Thread began in 2007 when these groups came together in order to seek higher volume contracts than any one of them could accommodate alone. It sustains each individual partner group within it by coordinating a flexible manufacturing process with a more reliable stream of work.

The cooperative was recently chosen as one of a handful of community based enterprises and charities to receive 2010 Winter Olympic Banners donated by the City.

The 800 banners, which were donated to Common Thread via its member organization The Kettle Friendship Society, will be used in an innovative collaboration with Mills Basics to produce a limited edition line of notebook covers with customized notebooks. Mills is a family owned Vancouver company that has provided office support and products such as printing, furniture and supplies to business since 1947. The company supports environmentally and socially responsible business practices and will be donating the profits from the sale of these special notebooks to H.A.V.E a culinary social enterprise in the DTES.

This isn’t the first time Common Thread have received Olympic Banners either. Building Opportunities with Business has been working with Common Thread since May 2009 to help connect the group with high volume sewing contracts like the City’s Great Beginnings Program. As part of this, Common Thread produced 1,500 children’s backpacks from the City’s pre-Olympic/Paralympic banners in a project called Sew A Legacy. The backpacks were filled with school supplies (many donated by Mills Basics) and distributed by the City to inner-city schools. Having coordinated production among more than 20 local sewers from organizations such as the Kettle Friendship Society, the Aboriginal Mother Centre, Coast Mental Health and the Afghan Women’s Sewing and Craft Co-op, Shirley Chan, CEO of BOB, attests to Common Thread’s ability to bridge organizations and bring benefits to the community. “Common Thread is an excellent example of the community capacity building power of social enterprises. Bringing together the resources, cooperation and support of government, community groups and non-profits, their work directly helps residents by creating jobs that contribute to a social and environmental purpose. BOB is pleased to support their work.”

Social enterprises are businesses that are driven by a social or environmental causes. They have become increasingly common engines of job creation and community support in urban and rural areas, and particularly in Vancouver’s inner-city. Common thread is an excellent example and one whose profile is growing. The special edition notebooks made from the Olympic/Paralympic Banners are scheduled to be ready by mid-August and can be purchased through Mills Basics.

For more information about common thread or to place an order contact Melanie Conn

Common Thread
626 Slocan St.
Vancouver, BC
V5K 3X7
Tel: 604-736-0935

Web: http://www.commonthreadcoop.ca
Email: info@commonthreadcoop.ca

ACME appears to be enjoying a bit of a brand resurgence here in Vancouver’s inner-city! For several months now, ACME Cafe has won the hearts of locals with fantastic sandwiches, pies and refreshments and has proven a great spot for working lunches. But just down the street at 108 E. Hastings hangs another ACME sign for an altogether different enterprise.

Recently taken over by local patron of the arts, David Duprey, the front of 108 W Hastings is hard to miss as the neon sign shines with a playful mix of neon blue, red, orange and yellow in a style that combines both a 1950s and 1980s feel (in my humble opinion). Duprey had the sign idea several months before ACME Cafe opened, for a location approved for one of the City’s Great Beginnings initiative facade improvement grants . The Great Beginnings initiative (along with other initiatives relating to the Downtown Eastside Revitalization program) has helped shine up several beautiful old buildings that had fallen into disrepair and disuse. Now, as is the case with Duprey’s 108 E. Hastings location, these buildings are filling up with entrepreneurial and cultural activities. Shops, restaurants, cafes and galleries are all able to take advantage of the affordable rents, newly painted and cleaned facades and enjoy the comfortable and spacious layouts of these classic buildings thanks to the vision and sweat equity of entrepreneurs like Duprey and the support of the City. The neon signs outside many of them are the real icing on the cake, but a very important icing. They celebrate the rich history of Hastings (and much of Vancouver) when it was the neon capital of Canada, rivaled only by Las Vegas itself! A reminder of the once vibrant and important role this neighbourhood played in our city, and an inspiring statement that a brighter future lay ahead.

So what does ACME mean? Rumored to be an acronym for A Company Making Everything, ACME is remembered by most for being the favorite brand of Wile E. Cyote. Employing the use of everything from rocket powered skis, to dynamite, to giant rubber bands, ACME supplied everything Wile E. needed in his endless quest to catch the Roadrunner or Bugs Bunny. In the 1930s though,  there was in fact a surge of businesses named either Ace or Acme, believed largely due to the fact that phone books and other directories began to be organized alphabetically. AAA being another obvious choice. The word acme itself is derived from the Greek word that means zenith or peak, and in the case of Warner Bros and Looney Tunes, is quite ironic. Poor Wile E. never had a venture half as successful as David Duprey or Acme Cafe.

If you have a business idea and need an affordable space, get in touch with BOB today. See our previous post for more information.