Town of Smoky Lake welcomes new business into town

By Irene van der Kloet

On Wednesday, January 18, the Town of Smoky Lake presented a plaque to Alpine Prairie Goods, a new business in town. The town typically presents a plaque to every new business as a token of appreciation. “Welcome to the community, and for taking the risk of opening a business in town,” the mayor, Amy Chernywchan, says while presenting the plaque. She is accompanied by the CAO, Dawn Phillips, and Barbe, one of the staff members. At the beginning of December, the smoothie bar that sells freeze-dried goods, called Alpine Prairie Goods, opened on White Earth Street in the town centre. They had been distributing their freeze-dried products throughout the region for some time before they decided to take the plunge and open a business with smoothies, freeze-dried fruits and other freeze-dried goodies. Dawn and Becca Rottacker (they are not sisters, they are not even related: Dawn was married, got divorced, and Becca married the divorcee.) The ladies, who are best friends, first came up with an idea in May 2022. “We started as a freeze-dried business, sold in gas stations and local stores, and then decided to expand to smoothies. We sold at Métis Crossing, at the rodeo, and now we sell out of Gibbons as well.” They opened the store in the first week of December in Noel’s Place, next to the post office, and have been so busy that they can’t take on any more business or will have to hire extra staff, which is quite remarkable for a smoothie business in the middle of winter.  “We had one guy come in saying, ‘you guys are bold to open this in the middle of winter,’ “ Dawn says with a laugh. Becca further explains, “If it keeps going the way it is, we’ll need to hire more staff going into the summer.” They are currently open two days a week, Monday and Wednesday, from 11 to 5. “With summer coming, maybe we need to be open an additional day, but we have a lot on our plate, so we need to be very mindful of opening another day,” Dawn comments. “With freeze-drying the goods and selling them, we almost have two businesses simultaneously,” Becca adds. They are not planning on adding other products- maybe light lunches down the road. “Starting, we wanted a machine for ourselves and for it to pay for itself, so that is how we ended up running a business,” Becca says. “I should add, I also make jewellery,” Dawn comments. “I use a lot of semi-precious stones; make bracelets, earrings, and moss art.” The jewellery will eventually be offered for sale in the business. Down the road, she will make jewellery using a soldering iron. They are considering inviting other people to display their art, but that decision has not yet been made.