The Revelstoke Chamber of Commerce is conducting a business retention and expansion study to look at ways to support businesses in the community.
“It goes through where the business is at, can they expand, is there anything standing in the way of expansion,” said Judy Goodman, the executive director of the chamber. “There’s also a section of what other businesses we can bring in that would complement your business.”
The study is being conducted in partnership with the City of Revelstoke, Columbia Basin Trust, Community Futures and the Rural Development Institute at Selkirk College.
Mark Rossi, a business student at UBC Okanagan, was hired to survey a cross-section of up to 200 businesses that represent the Revelstoke economy.
“It’s a really good opportunity for me to get out there and see what businesses in Revelstoke are about and what they’re doing,” he said. “And it’s a good opportunity for the city to identify areas where things could be improved and what barriers businesses are facing to growth and expansion. To identify those things and provide ways to remove those obstacles moving forward.”
The survey was formulated by the Columbia Basin Trust’s Rural Development Institute. It is being used in communities throughout the basin and the results go into a central database.
“We can benchmark how we’re doing against other communities,” said Goodman.
Goodman said the goal is find out what can be done to help businesses expand.
“Making sure that those businesses that want to grow in Revelstoke, stay in Revelstoke,” she said, adding that business owners looking to retire can also be supported.
Community Futures provided the funding to hire Rossi to conduct the study. He will be interviewing business owners over the next several months.