Survey results helping direct business supports

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Results from a new business survey highlight some of the challenges the regional business community is facing in light of COVID-19 and are helping direct support initiatives.

The business vitality survey was conducted by Community Futures Wild Rose (CFWR), a non-profit organization assisting entrepreneurs and small businesses, to study the impact of COVID-19, explained Wendy Gerbrandt, CFWR community economic development project leader. 

The survey targeted businesses across the entire CFWR region, including Wheatland County, Rocky View County, parts of the County of Newell, Kneehill County, and the municipalities located therein, said Gerbrandt. It was conducted between April 27 and May 9, and was primarily distributed electronically, although some of the municipalities included it with utility bills or by Canada Post notification.

A total of 137 businesses responded to the survey and results show the impact of the pandemic is largely the same across the region, with many businesses citing challenges with labour.

“Labour shortages or gaps, training, attraction or even just retention of staff has been problematic,” said Gerbrandt. “Businesses are looking for the same support, being training or access to funding, to help in these tough times.”

Across the region, most of the businesses were over 10 years old, with businesses between one and five years being the next most common. 

“So a lot of them are in the growth and maturity phases,” noted Gerbrandt, who added businesses in both phases need help. “They need to be treated very equally, just differently.

“Those mature businesses might be looking at successioning out, so we need to prepare them as they succession out of their business. At the same time, we must prepare who that new investor or buyer is going to be, so that we don’t lose that business.”

CFWR assists growth-phase businesses by helping them find new opportunities, such as identifying new markets. Working alongside stakeholder partners, including economic development and a “widespread” group of municipalities, the CFWR identifies key priorities on which to focus.

One priority is to maintain healthy businesses, focusing on labour, said Gerbrandt.

“For businesses to be healthy they need to have a healthy labour market, so we’re going to be working on some labour market strategies.”

The organization is also focused on business impact monitoring, looking at how businesses are progressing through relaunch or market recovery, based on surveys and counselling sessions, as well as capacity building, which involves training for entrepreneurs and identifying training gaps for labour, she said.

CFWR plans to conduct the survey quarterly, with the results from the first survey acting as the baseline. “We’re just working on the next round here, as businesses begin to relaunch,” said Gerbrandt. “We’re going to re-ask some of those questions so that we can follow the progression of how things are changing.”

This next survey, which is tentatively slated for release in mid-July, will also include new questions to address what is happening after businesses have relaunched.

Information derived from this survey will be used to develop strategies and focus efforts in assisting and guiding Wheatland County businesses, said Reeve Amber Link, in a statement. 

“The follow up quarterly surveys help identify if businesses are recovering, or having emerging issues through time in the staging processes in recovery and allow us to adjust our economic development focuses, if required,” said Link.

Businesses or prospective entrepreneurs seeking support can contact Community Futures Wild Rose at 403-934-8888 or at http://wildrose.albertacf.com/contact-us.