Shootin' the Breeze

What Shootin' the Breeze does

Shootin' the Breeze is an independent local news publication founded in 2011 and headquartered at 697A Main Street in Pincher Creek, Alberta, serving Pincher Creek, Crowsnest Pass, and surrounding communities in southwestern Alberta. Its core product is hyperlocal journalism covering municipal council meetings, RCMP and civic news, community events, rodeos, agriculture, obituaries, weather, and regional features, with a primary audience of local residents and a secondary audience of regional businesses advertising to those residents. The platform is built on a WordPress content management system supporting a digital news website, an email newsletter subscription service, and a separately distributed weekly print newspaper, providing three coordinated touchpoints for the same community.

The business model combines three revenue streams: recurring print and digital subscriptions (with annual billing cadence and a free trial offered via the website), local print and digital advertising sold to area businesses and community organisations, and funding from Canada's federal Local Journalism Initiative, a government programme supporting news coverage in underserved communities. Subscription pricing is not publicly disclosed on the website; customers transact via a listed phone number and online subscription page. The publication is a member of the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association and operates with a headcount of 1–10 employees, reflecting a small, owner-operator scale typical of rural Canadian community weeklies.

Strategically, the publication functions as the de facto community newspaper for its service area, leveraging long-standing local trust, a multi-year content archive, and proximity to civic institutions that larger media outlets do not cover. Its forward posture is defined less by expansion than by the maintenance of a multi-channel (print + web + newsletter) local news service supplemented by public funding, with no disclosed product launches, acquisitions, fundraising, or geographic expansion beyond southwestern Alberta in the source data.

Name

Shootin' the Breeze

Legal name

Shootin' the Breeze

Website

https://shootinthebreeze.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Shootin' the Breeze is an independent community news publication founded in 2011 in Pincher Creek, Alberta, providing hyperlocal journalism, a weekly print newspaper, and email newsletters to residents and businesses of southwestern Alberta.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Pincher Creek, Alberta

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Print and Digital Subscriptions: Weekly newspaper subscription service with digital access. Offers free trial subscriptions and newsletter-based content delivery to southwestern Alberta communities.
2. Advertising: Print and digital advertising space sold to local businesses, community organizations, and regional advertisers including Vision Credit Union and local businesses.
3. Local Journalism Initiative Funding: Government funding through Canada's Local Journalism Initiative, a program supporting local community news coverage in underserved communities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Shootin' the Breeze is a local community news publication serving southwestern Alberta, including Pincher Creek and Crowsnest Pass. It delivers local news, community features, events, civic reporting, obituaries, and regional coverage through a digital website, a weekly print newspaper, and email newsletters. The publication also sells print and digital advertising space to local businesses and community organizations.

Product overview

Shootin' the Breeze is a community news organization offering a unified local news service through its digital website and weekly print newspaper. The product portfolio consists of the online news website as the primary platform, supplemented by weekly print subscriptions and email newsletters. The organization covers southwestern Alberta with focus on Pincher Creek, Crowsnest Pass, and surrounding communities, providing local news, community features, events, opportunities, obituaries, and civic reporting.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Shootin' the Breeze Online News Website The primary digital news platform providing local news, community features, events, opportunities, obituaries, and civic reporting for residents of Pincher Creek, Crowsnest Pass, and surrounding southwestern Alberta communities.
• Weekly Newspaper Subscription Weekly print newspaper delivered to subscribers across southwestern Alberta communities, covering local news, features, community events, and regional content.
• Newsletter Subscriptions Email newsletter delivering news updates and community content to subscribers on a regular cadence.

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Okotoks Online: Hyperlocal community news outlet serving Okotoks, Alberta. Comparable subscription-supported, community-driven model covering municipal news and local events for a mid-sized Alberta town.
• High River Online: Hyperlocal online news outlet serving High River and surrounding Foothills County in Alberta. Comparable community-led digital news model covering town council, agriculture, rodeos, and civic events in southwestern Alberta.
• Bow Valley Crag & Canyon: Independent weekly community newspaper serving Banff and the Bow Valley. Closely comparable in format (weekly print + digital), community-led GTM, and Alberta mountain-region editorial focus.
• Pincher Creek Echo: The local weekly newspaper historically serving Pincher Creek and immediate area — the most directly comparable competitor covering overlapping municipal, civic, and community news in the same geographic market as Shootin' the Breeze.
• Rocky Mountain Outlook: Weekly community newspaper serving Canmore and the Bow Valley in Alberta. Operates the same hyperlocal, multi-format (print + digital + newsletter) model covering municipal news, events, and outdoor recreation communities.
• Crowsnest Pass Herald: Local community newspaper serving the Crowsnest Pass region, one of the same core geographies covered by Shootin' the Breeze. Comparable hyperlocal weekly format covering municipal council, local events, and community features.
• Cochrane Now: Hyperlocal online news outlet serving Cochrane, Alberta. Comparable community-focused digital news model covering town council, local events, and civic affairs in a similar-sized Alberta community.
• Airdrie Echo: Community newspaper serving Airdrie, Alberta. Comparable weekly print + digital format covering municipal council, local sports, and community features for an Alberta town.

Broad incumbents

• Calgary Herald: Major Postmedia-owned daily newspaper serving Calgary and surrounding Alberta including southwestern communities. Provides overlapping coverage of regional and civic news but operates at metropolitan scale with national advertising rather than hyperlocal focus.

Regional players

• Prairie Post: Weekly newspaper group covering communities across southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan. Comparable in format and weekly publication cadence, but serves a broader multi-region footprint rather than a single hyperlocal market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shootin'-the-breeze

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Shootin' the Breeze