The Village of Keremeos recently received the results of the April 29 business walk in the Lower Similkameen.
The walk involved a short, questionaire posed to nearly 50 businesses in the area, asking three things:
- How is business?
- What is the greatest challenge your business faces today?
- What can be done to help your business thrive?
“What stood out for me, was that a lot of the comments we received have already or are being addressed by the local government and the chamber (Similkameen Country), said Keremeos Mayor Manfred Bauer.
“What’s missing is this information hasn’t been communicated.
“Communication is a big issue, we need to communicate to business owners where to go to find business information and incentives,” he added.
Bauer was asked if any themes were discovered regarding local business during the business walk. He referred to a pie chart in the report outlining business responses to the question, “How is business?
“Roughly half (45 per cent) of local business is saying economic conditions are okay, while roughly half (42 per cent) are saying economic conditions are better than that,” Bauer responded. Noting the 13 per cent who said business was slow or poor, he said those respondents indicated such things as marketing, the type of business, and global competition as the most common issues interfering with their ability to increase their business success.
“Overall, I think we uncovered a fairly good picture,” Bauer concluded.
The report listed 16 improvements that respondents would like to see take place in the region to increase the opportunities for successful businesses to grow and thrive. Bauer said the village would be working with the chamber in the near future to address the results of the survey and follow up on other commitments.
“We need to increase awareness,” Bauer said, regarding what has been done, and what is being done,” noting copies of the report from the business walk would be made available to business and the public through the village office. Those businesses that requested a follow up to the visit will be sent one as well. An electronic version of the report will also be posted to the both village and Similkameen Country websites. Bauer promised to continue working with Similkameen Country and the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training to implement the results of the survey on the coming months.