City promotes small business in Chestermere

With small business week running from Oct. 16-22 the city has been encouraging residents to shop local.
“Supporting these local businesses means that we are supporting our friends, neighbours, community and even our Canadian economy,” said City of Chestermere Economic Development Manager Jean-Marc Lacasse.
He said that the accepted definition of a small business is one that has one to 99 paid employees. By that definition over 97% of Canadian businesses are considered small.
In Chestermere that percentage is even higher.
“Currently, Chestermere’s commercial component is made up entirely of small businesses,” said Lacasse.
For Chestermere to thrive residents need to support small local businesses.
For its part, the city is working to build a diversity of businesses to make Chestermere’s economy more resilient.
Lacasse said that the Retail Gap Analysis that the city has clearly identifies the types of businesses that the city needs.
The analysis shows that businesses that would have financial viability in this market, and that residents would support are small businesses.
The city is also looking to attract light industrial companies.
“We anticipate that many of those will be small businesses as well,” he said.
The city also provides support to local small business owners in the form of advice, referrals, and connections to additional expertise.