Business confidence high, Penticton survey suggests
City survey finds 55% of local businesses plan to expand in next year while 7% say they may have to downsize
Over half of Penticton businesses say they are growing, but housing and labour issues still need to be addressed in order to maintain momentum, according to survey results released Wednesday.
Undertaken by the City of Penticton, the business climate survey included face-to-face interviews with 101 local firms. It found the local economy is strong and expected to grow.
Fifty-five per cent of businesses surveyed plan to expand in the next year, with just seven per cent seeing potential downsizing.
Patio Burger and Ice Cream Co. owner Gordon Ferguson recently expanded his business, adding a year-round location on Barnes Street on top of the seasonal, beachside restaurant on Lakeshore Drive.
“The business climate from my perspective certainly has been positive and growing for the last few years,” Ferguson said.
Policing, labour supply and housing were frequently mentioned as concerns by businesses surveyed, and Ferguson is indeed feeling the pressure to retain workers on a year-round basis.
“One of the reasons why I added a second location (is) not just for good business sense, but it also keeps a few of my staff from leaving Penticton for the winter and finding employment elsewhere,” Ferguson said.
Mayor Andrew Jakubeit didn’t find any real surprises in the survey results, but said it’s good to have the data and opinions to back up notions of economic growth.
“It really helps to validate what was sort of anecdotally common knowledge or what we thought was happening or not happening. It really makes it statistically correct or accurate in terms of the findings,” Jakubeit said.
“Those are good things to start from and measure against and work on improving.”
Another concern heard from many businesses was inconsistent messaging, or “changing of goalposts” when it came to business licensing processes.
Jakubeit said city hall has been working to streamline internal processes, and there has already been a reduction in business licensing waits.
He said it is reassuring to see the business community looking to reinvest and commit to future growth, and having data to back up concerns like downtown policing is helpful as well.
“The more data you have the more you can quantify a position on it or not instead of it just being anecdotal. For many people, they think tourism is our No. 1 industry, but it’s, I think, No. 4 in terms of employees, people working,” Jakubeit said.
Public sector employment is No. 1, according to the 2016 census.
Data from the new survey will be used to inform development of the Official Community Plan update that’s due later this year.
The survey was conducted by O’Leary and Associates working with city staff. It cost approximately $10,000 and was funded through the economic development budget.