Did you know that stress in the workplace accounts for 19% of absenteeism? It also affects 40% of turnover costs, 30% of short and long term disability and 60% of workplace accidents. These numbers are significant to any workplace. If you want to decrease these numbers in your organization and save money in the long-term, you need to invest in professional support to assist employees. Early intervention helps employees stay at work longer or return to work sooner.

Who better to assist than Columbia Valley Counselling Centre Society. They are a local non-profit professional employee and family assistance counseling service located in Trail. The qualified professional counsellors are dedicated to improving the health of your employees. And of course, confidentiality is of utmost importance.

The full service counseling rate is $61 plus GST per full time employee per year. This includes spouses, dependents and retirees. If you are interested in improving your workplace by offering counseling services to your employees, contact CVCCS at 250-368-9118 or email cvccs@telus.net.

The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) branches across Canada provide a wide range of innovative services and support to people who are experiencing mental illness and their families. These services are tailored to the needs and resources of the communities where they are based. One of the core goals of these services is to help people with mental illness develop the personal tools to lead meaningful and productive lives.

CMHA Kootenays was historically involved with the Trail Chamber in order to connect with local employers. They no longer provide employment services in the Trail area, so they rely on the Chamber for support and promotion.

CMHA Kootenays is offering two important training sessions to communities in both the East and West Kootenay region: the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills and Training (ASIST) workshop and the safeTALK workshop. The ASIST workshop is 2 full days, whereas the safeTALK workshop is just a ½ day. Both training sessions require between 8 and 30 participants, and dates and times are flexible.

It would be ideal if most members of a community attended either ASIST or safeTALK training to learn these suicide intervention and suicide alert skills. They hope and believe that both workshops can contribute to suicide-safer communities. This is the beginning of such a great opportunity to make a difference in communities across the East and West Kootenays.

For more information on fees and booking, please contact Patricia Whalen, the Regional Gatekeeper Coordinator for the CMHA Kotenays at 250-426-5222 ext. 3124 or pwhalen@cmhakootenays.org.

BOCK AND ASSOCIATES is a recognized leader in workforce development offering organizations and leaders over 30 years of well-rounded experience in workplace and program development. Their expertise is ‘building coaching cultures’ and working with organizations to create an exceptional and engaged workforce. Sue Bock, owner of Bock and Associates has been recognized for her outstanding work within the coaching and business sector. Sue is known for developing BOLD leaders and STRONG coaches.

On April 26^th and 27^th Sue will be offering a one and a half-day coaching workshop with co-owner and colleague, Julie Butcher. Together they have created Trilogy Leadership^© and part of that system is their hands-on and practical model of Trilogy Coaching Conversation^©. It was designed from their philosophy that Relationships Impact Results^©. The model offers leaders a way to integrate coaching into their day to day work, building accountability and success with their teams.

For information and registration details please follow their link at: https://www.regonline.ca/trilogycoachingTrail

Sue is a solid member of the Chamber movement. She sat on the local board years ago as well as represented the district Chambers on the provincial board for almost 9 years. Sue believes every business should be a member of their local Chamber to ensure a strong and collective business voice is leveraged municipally as well as provincially. It’s a great gateway for small business to influence the policy changes they need to thrive.

What are your plans for Valentines Day? Why not take your loved ones out to Benedict’s Steakhouse for a steak and seafood feast, located at 3 Schofield Hwy, Trail, BC.

Benedict’s Steakhouse & Tunnel Pub has been a family run establishment for more than 30 years by Roy Benedict. His son, Ryan, joined the culinary team in 2005. If you’re looking for a family friendly casual fine dining experience or a relaxing pub style atmosphere, they’ve got you covered. They feature a signature slow roasted prime rib Tuesday through Saturday in both Benedict’s Steakhouse and the Tunnel Pub. This is a real treat, as most restaurants only offer this special deal on Fridays and Saturdays.

There’s always something going on at Benedict’s Steakhouse & Tunnel Pub, like daily food & drink specials, happy hour, Monday wing night and much more!

Tel:  250-386-3360