Farmer's Daughter gets help connecting to 200K would-be Capers

The Farmer's Daughter Country Marketin Whycocomagh, N.S., offeredfree land in return for employment at their store last year and were stunned to get 200,000 emailsin reply.

Now an economic development agency is going tohelp them answer the wide-ranging inquiries.

Many of the questions are about more than employment: people want to know about Cape Breton in general and about starting businesses on the island.

Thatcaught the attention of economic development agency, the Cape Breton Partnership, and they are helping the business process the torrent of messages.

Boon to island economy and tourism

That's music to Heather Coulombe's ears. She and her sister SandeeMacLean own The Farmer's Daughter

"I think it's amazing, as I've been looking for help. We've had a few friends help, but it's been quite daunting," said Coulombe.

Coulombe said many of the emails aren't useful for their search for employees, but they could prove beneficial for Cape Breton's economy and tourism.

"We've had people from Ontario, we've had people from South Africia who have businesses that would like to maybe sell their business and start a business here," said Coulombe.

"Some peoplejust wanted to know about coming to visit here because it looks so beautiful in all the pictures that we posted."

Coulombe said they've already forwarded some resumes along to the appropriate places. Staff at the nearby Point Tupper generating station contacted them about qualified millwrights.

"We were able to send them 11 applications and he came back saying, 'Wow, these are good people,'" Coulombe said. She said they've also heard from doctors and lawyers in Canada and abroad.

Interns to sift through trove of emails

Keith MacDonald, president of the Cape Breton Partnership, saidtwointerns will tackle the backlog of emails, working with the store's owners to categorize and respond to the many requests.

"We felt this would be a great experience for themand on top of that help the Farmer's Daughter in their situation," said MacDonald.

He said they hope to bring those would-be immigrants to Cape Bretonespecially those keen on starting businesses.

MacDonald said it will take several months to go through the emails and Facebook posts to provide the necessary information for those interested in visiting or moving here.

"Ultimately the goal is to attract new businesses to the region and hopefully we'll have some success."

• 'People who are not used to hard work, please do not apply'