Venture Kamloops expects to see business grow over the next year.
(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
November 08, 2013 - 9:46 AM
KAMLOOPS – A recent survey shows Kamloops businesses expect to see future growth as the economy recovers from the recession.
According to Venture Kamloops more than 90 per cent of businesses in the city expect to see sales growth over the next year and over half the surveyed businesses also expect to expand in the next year.
Business Retention and Expansion Manager Colin O'Leary interviewed a broad cross section of 70 different business owners and found that overall Kamloops has fared well even when other areas in the province have faltered because of the economic diversity found in the community.
While O'Leary was expecting many of the results the anticipated growth and strength of the economy was a pleasant surprise.
“Even though we're coming out of a recession people are experiencing strong to very strong growth — double digits,” he says. “We should be doing excellent over the next while.”
The survey, a combination of in-person and online questions, shows more than 30 per cent expect double digit sales growth, and another 53 per cent are expecting to see sales growth up to nine per cent. Only three per cent expect to downsize in 2014 and less than 10 per cent are worried they may need to close the doors if business doesn't change in the next year.
The face-to-face component helped get the conversation flowing and offered qualitative data while the online follow-up offered more raw, quantitive information. O'Leary says his goal was to collect primary data on Kamloops specifically, to get a pulse of the local economy.
Much of the information collected will be used to help offer better service to the existing business community and to help develop marketing for attracting new business.
O'Leary says the survey was a good exercise and he plans on holding regular surveys to gauge the business economy going forward.
“It's important to actually quantify it and share with rest of Kamloops,” he says. “It was an extremely good exercise, a lot of positive outcomes, some good takeaways.”
To contact a reporter for this story, email jstahn@infotelnews.ca, call (250)819-3723 or tweet @JennStahn.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013