In October of 1999 Jo-Anne Cheverfils began to realize her dream of running her own womens clothing store in Pine Falls, Manitoba when she opened Country Concepts. Jo-Anne worked long and hard to find the perfect location in Pine Falls that she felt would met her needs of a quality womens clothing store.

After the perfect location was picked Jo-Anne opened the store to a community that welcomed her womens clothing products with open arms.

"The first six months have been very challenging and very fulfilling on a personal level, says Jo-Anne. "From the indications I have been getting from my clientele it is evident that Country Concepts Clothing store was very much needed in the region."

Jo-Anne developed a comprehensive business plan that she has successfully implemented and as a result has complete control of the business and the direction in which it is going.

"The SEA Program really helped me with setting up my business," enthused Jo-Anne. "Winnipeg River have been a great benefit to me and I am sure anyone else that has started a business. They have been there to call for business assistance whenever I needed it."

Country Concepts is doing very well and now, the womens clothing store is moving towards developing into a family clothing store. The overall success of this business can be attributed to the ambition and drive that Jo-Anne Cheverfils has expressed in helping her overall community.

"The benefits of owning my own business is that it makes me feel like I am contributing something to our community."