Small business play a vital role in Estevan and communities across the country, according to Jackie Wall, the executive director of the Estevan Chamber of Commerce.
The national Small Business Week is Oct. 14-20, and Wall pointed out that small and medium-sized businesses account for 99.7 per cent of Canada鈥檚 businesses, and contribute 25 per cent of the nation鈥檚 goods and services exports.
鈥淚 know it鈥檚 been high previously, but I didn鈥檛 realize it was at 99.7 (per cent),鈥� said Wall. 鈥淚 knew it was above 98 per cent, though. So that鈥檚 a very interesting look at how important small and medium-sized enterprises are.鈥�
She believes those numbers are reflected in Estevan鈥檚 business community. The majority of businesses, and chamber members, are those that have one to 10 employees.
鈥淲e understand that small businesses are basically the backbone of our economy,鈥� said Wall.
Estevan has a very diverse businesses community. Some businesses have started up in the last couple of years, even though Estevan has had to battle through the impact of the recession that started in 2014.
鈥淎 lot of businesses had to take a look at how they were operating, and they had to make adjustments according to the market conditions, but a lot of them did that successfully, and 鈥� there are those businesses that have flourished, and some start-ups have done fantastic in the last few years,鈥� said Wall.
Many have shown resiliency and an ability to adapt.
鈥淭hey really took a look at 鈥楬ow is it that I can serve my customers,鈥� and what is it that they are really looking for. They have adapted to be even more relevant to the community.鈥�
The chamber provides a voice for small businesses through its advocacy efforts, and its connection to the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce provides a link to the provincial chamber鈥檚 network.
A similar link exists through the national chamber to the federal government for issues that come up. When the proposed small business taxes were brought forward last year, the chambers at various levels rallied together and did a lot of lobbying to create change.
The chamber will host a one-day business summit on Oct. 18 in honour of Small Business Week. Many of the topics will focus on issues that have come the chamber鈥檚 way from its membership. Other topics will focus on timely topics such as workplace impairment stemming from the legalization of recreational cannabis Oct. 17.
There will also be business panels that will focus on branding and the future of business in Estevan.
鈥淲e鈥檝e invited a few veteran business people from our community, and they are going to talk about the challenges that their businesses faced and how they鈥檝e met those challenges, and then also just a general discussion on what can we do as businesses in Estevan to improve our economic base,鈥� said Wall.
The summit is part of an effort by the chamber to have a big event during Small Business Week each year. Last year the chamber hosted the Estevan Business Excellence Awards (EBEX) during Small Business Week, and the EBEX聽Awards will be the big Small Business Week event next year.
