Longtime North Okanagan business leader Claudette Everitt honoured by Community Futures for decades of service

Photo: Contributed

A longtime business leader in the North Okanagan is being honoured by Community Futures for decades of service. 

Claudette Everitt was the first female president and later executive director of the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce, before the creation of the federal business development agency.

Everitt has spent the last 40-plus years setting up programs that have helped everyone from Indigenous youth to women entrepreneurs.

In 1978, after moving to Vernon from Alberta, she received contracts with local agencies including Venture Training, the John Howard Society, and chamber of commerce.

While serving as chamber president, Everitt helped gather like-minded community members and organizations to found the Okanagan North Community Futures Corporation.

"After I heard about the federal program, I knew we would have to organize a place where clients could access all the different resources they needed to get started under one umbrella organization,” says Everitt. 

"People from as far as Lumby and Armstrong started coming to us," she recalls.

In 1996, the agency moved into new premises at the corner of 33rd Street and 32nd Avenue in Vernon. 

One of Everitt’s proudest moments as chairperson came in 2000 when Community Futures achieved ISO 9001 certification, an international standard for quality management. 

Over the years, Everitt has served on numerous boards and committees both locally and nationally.

Her work in helping women attain a more significant leadership role in the business world was recognized when she was named Woman of the Year by Vernon Women in Business in 1990.

In 2002, she was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for her long-standing commitment to the community.