Developing and enhancing an open line of communication between small business owners in Osoyoos, the local chamber of commerce, the town’s economic development agency and town leaders remains the goal, as the second Business Walk will take place during Small Business Week in our community.

On Thursday and Friday of this week, Destination Osoyoos, in co-operation with the Town of Osoyoos and the South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce, will be hosting a local business walk program as part of Small Business Week across Canada.

To date, more than 45 communities across B.C. have expressed interest in hosting business walks during the month of October and this will be the second time that the event has been held in Osoyoos.

For the first time, business walks have been confirmed in Oliver and will take place the following week on Thursday, Oct. 29 and Friday, Oct. 30, said Blashko.

SOCC staff and board members for the walks in Oliver will join Oliver Mayor Ron Hovanes and members of town council.

The event proved to be very successful the first time is was held in Osoyoos.

“Business walks were first done in Osoyoos in 2013, where businesses were asked three questions,” said Mayor Sue McKortoff. “How is business? What do you like about doing business in Osoyoos? How can we help you facilitate growth in your business? This second visit will follow up on identifying positive feedback on ways to improve communication and town programs to help small businesses succeed.”

Staff from Destination Osoyoos and new South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce president Denise Blashko on this year’s business walk will join McKortoff and members of town council.

Members of the Destination Osoyoos board of directors and SOCC board will also participate as they will walk from business to business to ask a few questions and capture the pulse of the business community.

The data collected during these walks will help the Town of Osoyoos support small businesses and address challenges and opportunities, said Blashko.

Teams will be visiting key business areas between 9 a.m. and noon and 1-4 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.

For Osoyoos, the goal is to visit as many local businesses as possible over these two days, said McKortoff.

Each visit will involve a very short survey of four questions and shouldn’t take up more than five minutes at each individual business.

Business walks have proven to be an effective economic development tool for gauging the prosperity of the community, said Blashko.

“It will be great to get out and talk directly with the business owners in the community,” said Blashko. “It’s a great way to listen to their concerns and identify what they feel is working and what isn’t working so well.”

It is a business retention and expansion function designed to identify actions to address business related issues and challenges and to capitalize on the opportunities offered by businesses already established in the community, she said.

The objective of the business walks are to increase awareness and foster business community links to business support services that will help to integrate intelligence into Destination Osoyoos, the Town of Osoyoos, the SOCC, South Okanagan Community Futures and other small business service providers’, said Gail Scott, the managing director of Destination Osoyoos.

“This year we are working in collaboration with the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training, BC Economic Development Association and the provincial BC BusinessCounts program,” said Scott. “They have provided us access to their web based CRS software program to input information collected during the visits. This will allow us to track follow-up actions to be taken and to run reports.”

McKortoff and members of council will hit the streets on Thursday, while Destination Osoyoos and SOCC staff and board members will take over on Friday.

There was such good response to the inaugural Business Walk promotion in Oosyoos that everyone involved wanted to do it again this year, said McKortoff.

This is a wonderful opportunity for local business owners to vocalize what they feel is working and what isn’t working when it comes to support from the town, Destination Osoyoos and the chamber of commerce, said Blashko.

It’s exciting that the Business Walks program is going to expand into Oliver next week, said Blashko.

If your business is not visited during the business walks, but would like to participate, they can contact Scott at 250-495-5070 to set up a short interview.

More information about B.C. Business Walks can be found online by visiting the website at www.bceda.ca/content/bc-business-walks.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times