The District of 100 Mile House, in partnership with the South Cariboo Chamber of Commerce and the Province of British Columbia, have released the findings from the 3rd Annual Business Walks. Business Walks is a program in which local, regional and provincial organizations partner to ask a few focused questions of local business regarding what is working for their business and what is not.
Responses are then used to guide the community in providing business supports that achieve maximum impact and address business owners’ greatest needs. The 2019 Business Walks was conducted on May 1st, providing a snapshot in time which fell just prior to the forestry announcements. This year, the Business Walks was expanded to include the industrial area businesses in the Exeter Station Road area. As a result, 118 businesses were visited compared to 72 businesses last year. Twenty business leaders volunteered for this morning blitz, including representatives from partner organizations like the South Cariboo Chamber of Commerce, the Province of British Columbia, Work BC, Community Futures Cariboo-Chilcotin, South Cariboo Visitor Centre, Canlan, CIBC and the Williams Lake & District Credit Union.
Christine Gallagher, Chair of Board of Directors – South Cariboo Chamber of Commerce notes, “the 2019 Business Walks was a great success again this year. We sincerely thank the businesses for their participation and, as always, it was a pleasure collaborating with the District and the Province on planning and delivering this project.” Business Walks Findings:
• 84% of business rated the state of their business as steady or growing – compared to 75% last year
• 942 employees were documented for 118 businesses, about 69% were full-time positions.
• Challenges: The biggest overall challenge continues to be staffing, especially attracting and retaining staff. Labour issues have consistently been the number one challenge cited by businesses in all 3 Business Walks.
• Businesses cited word of mouth advertising and having a good reputation with their customers as key characteristics of what is working well for their business, along with diversifying their product and service mix, and having loyal staff.
• The top 3 responses when asked what would help businesses grow included: assistance recruiting qualified staff, resident attraction to grow their customer base, and more advertising.
• One of the most significant findings came from businesses that indicated they plan to sell or retire in the next 5 years: 65% have a plan in place to do so. This contracts sharply with the 2016
Business Walks, which found that only 37.5% had a plan in place. “The results from the Business Walks will help build stronger relationships between businesses, local government and business support agencies, especially as we work together to ensure our existing businesses are supported,” says Mayor Campsall. Follow-up after the Business Walks is critical. Individual businesses have already received follow-up information if it was requested or recommended by a Team Member. In addition, the overall findings of the Business Walks will be shared with partner agencies and with the Economic Development Transition Team who are working to identify broad business supports and new opportunities.
One of the follow-up actions stemming from previous Business Walks relates to labour challenges. “Labour shortages in 100 Mile House are similar to those in the rest of the Cariboo, and include all scales of labour, from entry level jobs to highly skilled trades and professional services,” says Joanne Doddridge, Director of Economic Development & Planning with the District of 100 Mile House. A Regional Labour Market Study was launched earlier this year in response to region-wide labour market challenges. Primary goals of the Study are to support employers in accessing skilled talent to fill their job vacancies, boost business expansion, strengthen economic activities by identifying trends in the labour market, and providing recommendations to recruit talent to the Cariboo.
The Business Walks Summary Report can be found on the District of 100 Mile House website at www.100milehouse.com as well as the South Cariboo Chamber of Commerce website at www.southcariboochamber.org.
