Owner of Flatland Hops Ed Hofsink had no online presence before getting connected with Grace Evans, digital service squad team member. They planned the website during four half hour meetings and, as they planned, she built it.
Community Futures Chinook recently launched Digital Service Squad, a free resource with local team members that assist business owners in building and creating an online presence, with advice, knowledge and technical services.
“Having a website is great exposure and it allows us to show people what we’re doing,” says Hofsink. “It was really good what they built for us, and it was really easy to work with Grace. This is something I couldn’t have done by myself, so it was nice to have the support.”
Now that Hofsink’s business is introduced to an online audience, he is looking forward to experiencing the benefits of having a fully-functional website. The time it took wasn’t too consuming for Hofsink, and it was something that he felt he needed to elevate the business.
“Working with Grace was nice — it was really nice. I'm not very familiar with computers, but we used zoom to meet and it worked out really well,” says Hofsink.
Hofsink has been farming his whole life, but when he saw an opportunity to grow hops on unused land, he began growing, harvesting and processing hops for breweries in Southeast Alberta. It was when he was asked during a brewery tour if he had a website, that he was connected with Community Futures Chinook to have one built.
“I really enjoy farming because we’re outside all the time, we’re independent and we’re accountable to ourselves. We also work with family a lot and my hope is to carry on that way,” says Hofsink.
Hofsink’s business can be found online at www.flatlandhops.com/.
For those interested in receiving online presence support, from a team member located in Taber, please contact Community Futures Chinook!
