Are you a local business owner? We want to meet with you!
The Okotoks Community Growth and Investment (CGI) Team is proud to introduce Okotoks first-ever Business Visitation Program (BVP). Introduced this September, the BVP is designed to help increase communication between the Town and local businesses, helping us better understand the pressures your business is facing and how we can further help you, as a valued business owner in Okotoks.
WHAT IS A BUSINESS VISITATION PROGRAM?
A Business Visitation Program can be defined as, “A structured process of visiting local businesses to conduct confidential interviews with the goal of identifying business needs, successes, challenges and opportunities.” (Source: EDA Community Economic Development Training Manual, July 2019).
While the outcomes of the program are formal in nature, the process and execution of a BVP tends to be quite casual. Visitation through the program can be as simple as a meeting over coffee to a more structured approach that involves focus groups and presentations. For the Okotoks business community, our visitation program will involve pre-planned meetings with a set schedule. This ensures the program is effective and efficient. An additional aspect of the visitation program includes a Warm Welcome visit, which will be available on request to all new businesses opening within the past year and moving forward.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS TO MY BUSINESS?
The CGI team is here as your first point of contact for anything that relates to your business and the Town of Okotoks administration. We endeavour to meet with every business in the community – storefront and homebased. Doing so helps both parties establish a strong channel of communication that can be consistent and relevant to each business’s needs. This can include topics of interest, areas of concern, policies and regulations to help the business community thrive. Armed with this information, our team can then leverage our expertise to help your business, including helping troubleshoot current issues, brokering relationships, connecting your business to additional support; providing opportunities for expansion and much more.
Perhaps the greatest benefit of a BVP to your business is the streamlining of communications between the Town's economic, planning and licensing offices. This communication helps Okotoks further reduce the red tape in starting or operating your business here.
HOW DO I SCHEDULE A VISIT?
Starting in November 2021 the Community Growth and Investment (CGI) Team will be reaching out to individual businesses by sector. But, if the opportunity arises, and you would like to meet before being contacted, don’t hesitate to reach out – we are here to help!
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