By Sebastian Kannally
The South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce is looking for support to formalize its business retention program to provide more organized support for local businesses in this challenging economy.
The Chamber is seeking support from Oliver, Osoyoos, and four of the Regional District of the Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) areas – I,D,C, and A – to formalize their plan for their Business Retention Expansion and Relocation (BRER) program.
Denise Blashko, Manager of the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce presented to Oliver Town Council a draft plan for this support which is named the South Okanagan Community Economic Development Collaborative, asking for Oliver’s support and a contribution of $25,000.
The Chamber intends to create and formalize the BRER program annually for the South Okanagan, work which they have done informally for the last 75 years. Their draft plan explained that “we recognized that we need more organization, investment, and regional dedication to this work to move the needle in this challenging economy.”
Their plan is to create “a three to five year plan with secured funding and committed partners so we can ensure sustainability of these efforts and results for our local businesses and greater community.”
The application will be submitted to the Regional Economic Diversification Infrastructure Grant. They are applying for a one year implementation grant which requires a 20 per cent investment from the region.
They are asking for $25,000 from both municipalities (Osoyoos has already committed $25,000 in conditional support) and $15,000 from each RDOS area. This will be collected with $6,000 from the Chamber and $24,000 worth of space donation.
This regional support equals $130,000, which would allow them to apply to receive $520,000 in grant money for a total project price of $620,000. If successful they will receive the money in March 2024.
The implementation of the program will include formalizing the program, committee framework, marketing, and various ongoing and specific activities, such as in-person training and workshops, on-site mentoring for marketing, human resources, and creating customer service experiences.
Other projects that would be included in this effort are collecting formalized data. Over the last year, the Chamber became a member of the BC Economic Development Association. They have been working on setting up a software program to gather data and report on information in the community.
The Chamber is also looking at securing a location to create a regional hub in a central and accessible area. They are looking at the Okanagan College Oliver Campus to be able to share office space, a reception desk, a computer lab, and space for special events such as coworking, workshops and meetings.
Oliver Town Council was generally in favour of supporting the project. Councillor Petra Veintimilla commented that this is a way to help the business community which is part of their mandate. She recalled a phrase that “without businesses, you don’t have jobs. Without jobs, you don’t have people. Without people, you don’t have a community.”
Councillor Aimee Grice also said she fully supports this project, noting that she is particularly excited about some strides that the Chamber is making towards a video project for the region. “This is a small but worthwhile investment,” Grice noted.
This initial investment from the communities will be for 2024 as part of the grant application, but Blashko explained that they hope this becomes a part of budgets going forward.
The budget request will be brought back to council at the Nov. 14 meeting where they will be discussing other budget considerations and council will make a decision at that time.
