Okotoks, Alta: ‘Picture perfect’ to grow business
Steady boom after population cap is lifted
When Malcolm Duncan drove down to Okotoks, Alta. in 2007 to check out a vintage car, he knew immediately it was the right place for his business. “I fell in love with it so much I closed my shop in Red Deer and came here,” said the owner of Excalibur Truck Accessories Ltd.
“It was picture perfect; and the property investment opportunities were amazing.”
His commercial property investment has outperformed residential properties handsomely. “Whatever money I invested in property has grown 100 per cent. It turned out to be the best investment I’ve made in Canada.”
Since then, he has upgraded his shop and purchased an adjacent piece of land to increase production capacity. When completed, Duncan estimates his staff of five will increase to 15 or higher depending on the economy. “With the decline in oil and gas, we can now get labour at a reasonable rate. What really excites me now is the devalued dollar, because I can export for the first time since starting the business nine years ago.”
Duncan is not the only business owner reaping the benefits Okotoks has to offer. A mere 12-minute drive south of Calgary, Okotoks has the distinction of the being the largest town in Alberta (population is nearing 30,000) and home to a large population of thriving small businesses.
Shane Olson, economic development manager for the Town of Okotoks, said 96 per cent of the town’s businesses have fewer than 50 employees, many of which are in retail and construction. Of those, slightly more than 640 are licensed home-based businesses and another 588 are storefronts. “We have had 39 new storefront businesses and 105 new home-based businesses open this year as of September 15,” he said.
Okotoks has undergone significant changes, particularly in recent years, said Cheryl Actemichuk, general manager, Okotoks & District Chamber of Commerce who moved to the community more than 20 years ago when the population was around 6,500. While it has grown steadily since, 2013 was a major turning point.
“That was when a new council voted to get rid of the population cap. The place went crazy and there has been a sort of steady boom since. It’s good because it means more people, more jobs and a stronger economy,” Actemichuk said.
This change of direction is one reason Okotoks is showing a significant improvement in the CFIB/FP 2015 Entrepreneurial City Rankings to be released Oct. 19.
The Chamber’s working partnerships with the economic development team and Community Futures Highwood, a federal governmentsponsored program for supporting small business adds to the town’s business-friendly reputation.
“It’s great for helping small businesses get financing, do succession and business planning, plan a budget — any- thing a startup might need,” Actemichuk said.
Team members combine resources to plan workshops around succession planning, tourism, market segmentation, business challenges, and help for starting a business among other topics.
In 2014, the town council formalized a commitment to continual improvement and eliminating red tape, Olson said. “One of the things that came out of that was an overhaul of the major development review process for smaller planners and developers.
“We are still diversify- ing and building our business base. Expectations are this community could reach 80,000 over a 60-year horizon. Currently, the town is experiencing a 2.5 per cent net growth, despite the recession.”
Olson contends Okotoks is at a tipping point in terms of attracting even more businesses. “We’ve reached critical mass in retail and have a lot of business related to the construction sector. We’re now targeting more professionals in sectors like IT, innovation and engineering,” he said.
To that end, the town has focused on pulling out all the stops to be more “investment ready,” Olson said. That includes investments in an ultra-high-speed Internet infrastructure and opting for no business tax. “At one point in our studies we found it cost 350 per cent less to operate a business here than in Calgary,” he said.
Another incentive is low non-residential tax rates: the property tax rate differential is 38 per cent versus 300 per cent in nearby Calgary. “It’s great for business owners, but also for businesses that lease because those cost savings get passed on to the tenant,” Olson said. “Those kinds of softer things act as an incentive for business owners as well.”
Excalibur’s Duncan can’t think of a better place to grow his business. “You have to go a long way to match the pace of life and cleanliness. Best of all, there are excellent growth opportunities for smaller industries here.”