By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG
The Village of Valemount hosted consultants from Strategies North, the consultancy firm Council contracted to develop a business recovery plan, last Wednesday, November 27th. Over the next six months, the firm will gather information on the economic impacts of this summer’s highway closures, lobby the provincial and federal government for more financial support of local businesses, and to find other potential solutions to help struggling businesses survive.
Attendees discussed the challenges they have faced as a result of the highway closures, as well as immediate and long-term solutions for struggling business owners in Valemount.
The boom-and-bust cycle of a mostly tourism-dependent economy puts business owners in a precarious place, said Michelle Dallaire, owner of Infinity Office and Health.
“We need to focus on the long-term, on finding people with greater capacity to spend locally,” Dallaire said. “If there are no jobs here, if rent is outrageous, then families are just struggling to meet everyday needs. Spending extra is just not going to happen.”
However, attendees agreed that immediate financial aid would be a boon to businesses in the short term.
“Most of us, we’re looking for some kind of grant funding to help financially float our businesses through the tough times,” said Sherrie Houghton, owner of Emerald Earth Organic Spa. “But long-term, we’re looking for some kind of solution as to how we can have more people here in Valemount to keep the community running.”
President of Strategies North Grant Barley said he wasn’t surprised to hear businesses are struggling.
“When you start adding up COVID, the fluctuations in weather with snowpack, then the fire, the compound effects this particular town has been dealt is tough,” he told The Goat. “I’m sure other places in Canada have those kinds of challenges, but in a B.C. context, it’s pretty unique to be impacted greatly by a fire, but not in your community.”
Still, Barley said he was happy to hear that business owners are determined to stay afloat.
“The one reassuring piece is when you talk to a group of entrepreneurs and somehow see they’re doing what they can to survive and look at things in a positive way,” he said. “It always gives me a sense of optimism, that sense of mentality that it takes to open a business.”
It has been difficult for the Village to access government grants, since the emergency that caused the economic downturn took place in a different province, as Mayor Owen Torgerson remarked during the November 12th Council meeting. Barley said this is a challenge, but believes there may be ways for Strategies North to work around it.
“We’ve had success in the past in convincing government departments to look at the way they’re administering that grant money differently on a short-term or medium-term basis because of a specific set of events,” he said. “It’s all about making it politically advantageous for them to support Valemount. It’s pretty easy when you sit in a room with them and have these discussions. You can see how important it is.”
Barley added that grants may not be the only option: a tax deferment could also provide relief to Valemount businesses, he said. In any case, the firm will get creative in its efforts to provide support.
“It’s trying to find out what [businesses] need and then use a variety of mechanisms to get them through this next period so that they survive it and can get back to business in the summer,” he said.
