By Liam Verster

Satisfaction rate of 98.2%

County of Grande Prairie earns high satisfaction rates from local businesses

Jan 22, 2020 | 5:00 AM

The County of Grande Prairie held a Business Retention and Expansion survey last November and December, and found that 98.2 per cent of local businesses are satisfied with the County as a place to do business. Of those who are satisfied, 45.2 per cent were very satisfied.

The County, who conducted over the survey over the phone, contacted 115 randomly chosen businesses to gain these figures.

Economic Development Manager with the County, Chris King, says the number of satisfied business owners is great news for the County, and will help with identifying trouble areas that need addressing.

The survey was intended to engage with businesses, to see what challenges and issues they are facing, which will allow the County to take proactive steps in solving the problems. King calls the process ‘triaging,’ which involves identifying strengths and weaknesses, and following up to see what the County can do to help improve the situation.

The survey also looked at 16 business factors, to see what areas need the most focus. While none of the factors were rated below 50 per cent, six of them were rated below 60.

Meaningful Mementos

Remembering Someone You've Lost at Christmas

Dec 03, 2024

Seasonal Sorrow

How Do You Get Through The Holidays When You're Grieving?

Nov 01, 2024

Upcoming Events at Oliver's

Grief & Loss and Estate Planning Seminars

Oct 02, 2024

“The ones that we, certainly, we identified, was skilled labour. Things have been picking up again, it’s always nice to have a good, robust economy and low unemployment rates. The downside of that is your skilled labour becomes a little more challenging to find.” King adds, “Internet continues to be an issue, that’s one that County’s been working on for a while now, and we have a report that will be coming to Council in the next couple months on fibre optics, that will help some of those issues. And then affordability of commercial space, 55 per cent are satisfied with the affordability of the commercial space, and some are not.”

He says the affordability of commercial space needs to be looked into further, as there are lots of large commercial spaces, which may be creating affordability challenges for some businesses who only need a small space to operate.

The participants were also surveyed on the last 12 months of business, which saw 56.5 per cent of respondents saying they saw a decrease in sales during 2019. However, King remarks that some of these businesses involve construction services or heavy machinery sales, and that how the amount of money made in 2019 compared to previous years was not included in the survey. He says more needs to be done to follow up and determine just how much sales decreased, and what action can be taken in the future.

In the same breath, King notes that, based on sales in the final months of 2019, 20 per cent of respondents believe they will see an increase in sales in 2020, and 40 per cent believe their sales will remain the same.

The survey also shed light on the growth of the County. 15 respondents say they plan to expand their business, while eight plan to downsize, two plan to relocate, two plan to sell, and one plans to close.

King says they’re reaching out to these businesses, to see how they can help with the expansions and downsizes, as well as seeing if they can turn around the plans to relocate or close down the other businesses.

The County is now following up with the businesses from the survey, to find specific data and details on how to improve the areas that were rated the lowest. The findings will be used to create a strategic business plan and recommendations, which King says will be presented to County Council in late-February.

King also notes that the survey found there was a good working relationship between businesses and the County.

“I’m happy to see that people feel like they can come and talk to us, that’s the big piece for us. If they don’t pick up the phone, then we don’t know what’s going on, or if they’re not comfortable talking with us. And that was really nice to see that there’s a positive relationship and people know who to call and know who to talk to, to voice what they’re concerns are. So that was nice to see.”