(BRENDAN KERGIN / iNFOnews.ca)
September 30, 2016 - 4:43 PM
KAMLOOPS - There’s another sign of a strong economy in Kamloops as the number of business licences in the city are up over the same time last year.
An increase in business licences is a good sign of growth, business licence inspector Dave Jones, as there is a notable increase from September 2016 to September 2017.
“Over the same period last year we’re up about 3.5 per cent” he says. “There’s just under 200 new applications over the same period last year.”
Right now there are 5,488 business licences in the city, up from 5363 at the end of 2015. Jones says that’s a sign people are moving to Kamloops to open businesses.
One of those businesses is Frenchies Poutinerie, a new restaurant downtown specializing in gourmet, local poutines opening in early October. Owner and founder Elie Hanna is originally from Quebec.
“I moved here from Quebec back in 2009 and had the idea since then,” he says. “I went to school, finished with school and went and worked in the oil fields for a bit. I got laid off when the (oil) market crashed.”
When he was laid he chose to come back to Kamloops to open up the poutine shop.
The increase in business licences is not just a good sign of people choosing to locate businesses in Kamloops, Jones says, but also means more employment opportunities for residents.
“An increase is definitely moving in the right direction,” he says.
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