Tell Us Your Story. What motivated you to start your business? Why are you passionate about what you do?

To Us It's Personal. In 2017, Cathie Bal nearly lost her dog, Zara, to a complex thyroid condition. In her quest to find the right food for Zara, she discovered the power of raw pet food, and the power of a truly balanced, healthy diet. Cathie was relieved to be able to provide nutritionally balanced food for Zara but quickly realized that raw diets take work. Not only was it time-consuming (regularly requiring hours of prep time), but it would occupy valuable freezer and fridge space. Eventually, Cathie found a locally made, dehydrated, raw pet food that was mess-free, easy to prepare, shelf-stable and safe from bacteria. This food provided Cathie with convenient way to provide Zara with a complete, healthy diet. However, in August of 2020, the very food that was helping to keep Zara alive left the market. This created a life-threatening situation for Zara and brought Cathie right back to square one. Disheartened and with a sickening pup, Cathie took matters into her own hands. She assembled a team of highly trained veterinarians and consultants to help her create an even better, nutritionally balanced and quality tested pet food made from ingredients that she was proud to feed Zara. After seeing the positive impact of a healthy, hearty diet, Cathie couldn’t help but want to share the food that saved Zara’s life with other pet owners. And just like that, Wood Mountain Naturals was formed. Established in 1896, the Wood Mountain Homestead was built on a foundation of respect for land, nature and family. That is why Wood Mountain Naturals prides itself on using locally sourced, real food ingredients in its pet products. Today, our ingredients are sourced locally in the beautiful Okanagan Valley, B.C. We use local growers and producers to provide us with fresh fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy. We feed our communities by feeding your pet! It is nutrition you can rely on. By combining whole food ingredients with the right nutritional supplements, Wood Mountain Naturals delivers a complete diet with the perfect balance of minerals, vitamins and nutrients that’s been tested and veterinarian approved.

Describe and demonstrate, including metrics, your community support. How do you support and uplift your community, and how do they show that support in return? Minimum 25 words, maximum 2500 characters.

Wood Mountain Naturals is dedicated to our community in more ways than one. Not only do we support local farmers, growers and producers, which feeds our community while feeding your pet, we also help and support local non profit groups. It was an honor to watch a training session by CCSC in our production facility, which has many distractions, and see how these dedicated volunteers train and work with their dogs. Each year this group assists in the recovery of missing loved ones, bringing them home to their families. This is another reason Wood Mountain Naturals produces a raw dehydrated pet food. These dogs need a good source of energy and solid nutrition. Wood Mountain Naturals pet food is easy to pack, light weight and easy to feed wherever you are by just adding water. As well we upcycle as many of our ingredients, we process by supplying local farmers with parts of the vegetables we can't use so they can feed their chickens and pigs. Once again, the community supporting us while we support them.

Why do you deserve to win the Business Impact award?

We work alongside farmers and producers in our community. 98% of all our ingredients, materials etc. are sourced and supplied locally. We work with many farmers and producers in our area who have produce that was considered not marketable. We now buy this produce, like the carrot with 3 legs and put money back into their pockets. Apples that can't go to market because of blemishes now are used by us and again putting income back into the pocket of local producers. When we have a need to market our products or update our website, we look locally first and keep dollars within our community wherever possible. Working with other businesses in our community to provide these services has helped us and them. Relationships have been built with these businesses and a great working relationship established. We love visiting local stores carrying our products to meet the staff, answer questions and educate others on our products. Working together with our vendors has helped us to build our business and them to build theirs.

Tell Us About Your Culture. How are you creating a sustainable and healthy workplace where everyone feels welcome? Provide examples of leadership you show in interactions with clients, vendors, contractors, staff and others.

As a family run business, we encourage youth of all ages to submit resumes and work with us. We believe that our youth are our future and encourage youth in our community to apply for job opportunities with us as we create shifts around school hours for them. We also create flexible working hours for mom's who want jobs that work around their children's school hours. Our culture is one of fun, support, flexibility and skill building. Many times, we have a staff member who offers ideas and suggestions that are implemented in our workplace. We strive to be a leader in our industry by encouraging our customers, suppliers and others to visit our facility. We are leading the way for people to truly feel good about what they feed their pets.

Why do you think you should win the Premier’s People’s Choice Award?

We believe we have overwhelming support within our community. Not only do we work in Spallumcheen but we live here as well, and our family's roots go back to 1896. Established in 1896, the Wood Mountain Homestead was built on a foundation of respect for land, nature and family. That is why Wood Mountain Naturals prides itself on using locally sourced, real food ingredients in its products. We are active members of our local chamber of commerce and we support a number of youth and youth organizations within our community.