ETSI-BC (Economic Trust of the Southern Interior)

What ETSI-BC (Economic Trust of the Southern Interior) does

ETSI-BC (Economic Trust of the Southern Interior) is a non-profit regional economic trust headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia. Originally established in 2004 as the Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust (SIDIT), the organization rebranded to ETSI-BC in March 2021. The trust operates with a lean team of seven employees under a Board of Directors that includes elected officials and provincial appointees. Its mandate is to disburse grant funding and provide resources, training, and data tools supporting economic development across the BC Southern Interior, covering the Thompson-Okanagan and Columbia-Kootenay regions and serving a population under 760,000 across approximately 150,000 square kilometers.

The organization's primary mechanism is biannual grant funding intakes (Spring and Fall), each typically offering approximately $1 million in available funding with individual grants capped at $50,000 to $75,000. Eligible recipients include local governments, First Nations communities, non-profit business support organizations (Community Futures offices, Chambers of Commerce), industry groups, and post-secondary institutions; applications are reviewed by Regional Advisory Committees representing different sub-regions. Since 2021, ETSI-BC has funded 461 projects with $12.5 million of direct investment, leveraging $30.5 million of total regional investment and supporting the creation or maintenance of more than 26,000 jobs.

Beyond grantmaking, ETSI-BC has built proprietary digital infrastructure including the Economic Dependencies Dashboard (EDD), launched June 2024 to provide economic visualization at regional, district, and 32 local-area levels including First Nations; the Our Region Portal for contextual regional data; and the Grow and Connect software platform for food supply chain coordination. The trust also delivers training programs including the Data 101/201 webinar series (with Community Futures East Kootenay) and a six-month AI certification program (with AI Smart Ventures). ETSI-BC is funded by a provincial endowment and does not generate commercial revenue.

Name

ETSI-BC (Economic Trust of the Southern Interior)

Legal name

Economic Trust of the Southern Interior

Website

https://etsi-bc.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ETSI-BC is a non-profit British Columbia economic trust that distributes biannual grant funding, operates proprietary data platforms, and delivers training programs to support economic development across the BC Southern Interior, serving local governments, First Nations, non-profits, and industry groups.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional Economic Development Funding

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Grantmaking Agencies & Education Program Grants Administration (EDADAHAD), Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Intergovernmental Affairs & Federal Grants Administration (BPAIAAAC)

Keywords

• Regional economic development
• Grant funding programs
• Economic data dashboards
• Community capacity building
• Workforce development funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Kelowna

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Disbursement: ETSI-BC operates as a regional economic trust that distributes grant funding to eligible recipients including local governments, First Nations, non-profit organizations, and industry groups. The trust receives funds from provincial endowment and reinvests them in regional economic development projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ETSI-BC is a regional economic trust that distributes grant funding (up to $1M+ per intake) to eligible organizations including local governments, First Nations, non-profits, and industry groups across BC's Southern Interior. It supplements grant funding with proprietary data visualization platforms (EDD, Our Region Portal) and training programs to build regional economic development capacity.

Product overview

ETSI-BC is a regional economic development trust that operates as a funding organization and resource provider rather than a traditional technology product company. Its core offerings include the EDD (Economic Dependencies Dashboard) - an economic data visualization platform, the Our Region Portal for regional data context, and multiple grant funding streams (Building Economic Development Capacity, Innovating and Advancing Key Sectors, Supporting Business Resilience, Developing Human Capital, Regional Transportation Enhancement). Additionally, ETSI-BC provides educational programs including the Data 101 Webinar Series and AI for Economic Development Practitioners Program. The organization connects communities with funding, resources, and training to support economic development across BC's Southern Interior.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Economic Dependencies Dashboard (EDD) Interactive economic visualization tool providing regional economic insights at three levels: the Southern Interior region as a whole, eight regional districts, and 32 local areas combining communities and First Nations.
• Our Region Portal Regional data platform providing contextual data on population, labour force, industry sectors, and business counts to complement community-level data for evidence-based economic planning.
• Building Economic Development Capacity Funding Stream
• Innovating and Advancing Key Sectors Funding Stream
• Supporting Business Resilience and Competitiveness Funding Stream
• Developing Human Capital Funding Stream
• Regional Transportation Enhancement (RTE) Funding Stream
• Data 101 Webinar Series
• AI for Economic Development Practitioners Program Six-month certification program (launched in partnership with AI Smart Ventures) teaching economic developers to integrate AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot into their daily work for grant writing, reporting, and content creation.

Quantifiable outcome

• 461 economic development projects funded since 2021
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MitacscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerETSI-BC partners with Mitacs on research funding grants. The partnership supports collaborative research initiatives between the region's post-secondary institutions and local businesses/governments. In 2024, nine grant recipients were funded through this partnership.
• Community Futures East Kootenay (CFEK)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnership for delivery of data training programs including Data 101 and Data 201 webinar series. CFEK's Community Economic Development Coordinator develops and delivers training to economic development practitioners across the Southern Interior.
• AI Smart VenturesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for AI for Economic Development Practitioners certification program - a 6-month program teaching economic developers to integrate AI tools into their daily work.
• CIEL (Centre for Innovative & Entrepreneurial Leadership)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrepared the Economic Analysis of the BC Southern Interior report, drawing on data from ETSI-BC's regional economic dependencies tool and supplemented by Census data.
• Other Regional Economic TrustsminorOthersListed as related trusts: Northern Development Initiative Trust and Island Coastal Economic Trust, representing BC's network of regional economic trusts.
• Provincial Government MinistriescoreOthersPartnerships with Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport; Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation; and PacifiCan (federal).
• Community Futures BCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of Community Futures organizations across BC providing business support services. Multiple Community Futures offices in the Southern Interior receive ETSI-BC funding for programs.
• Thompson Okanagan Tourism AssociationminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegional tourism association supporting tourism sector development in the Thompson-Okanagan region.
• Kootenay Rockies Tourism AssociationminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegional tourism association supporting tourism sector development in the Kootenay Rockies region.
• Columbia Basin TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-funder of regional projects including the Cranbrook Tourism Master Plan alongside ETSI-BC.
• BC Economic Development Association (BCEDA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with BCEDA for the Castlegar Chamber of Commerce CRM development project supporting Business Retention and Attraction Strategy.
• Selkirk CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPost-secondary institution partner in the Kootenay Entrepreneurship Program (KEP), collaborating with College of the Rockies and KAST to deliver entrepreneurial training across the Kootenay region.
• College of the RockiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPost-secondary institution partner in the Kootenay Entrepreneurship Program (KEP), collaborating with Selkirk College and KAST for regional entrepreneurial development.
• Kootenay Association for Science and Technology (KAST)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional tech business accelerator and KEP partner, offering programs for students K-12 in STEAM and support for technology entrepreneurs.
• Kootenay Outdoor Recreation Enterprise Society (KORE)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner70-member alliance of outdoor recreation gear makers. KORE integrated entrepreneurial networking events into its KORE Outdoor Rec Tech Summit as part of KEP.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xbsky.app/profile/etsi-bc.bsky.social
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/etsi-bc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ETSI-BC (Economic Trust of the Southern Interior)