The condition of the economy is always a hot topic as Alberta continues to weather lower oil and gas prices and begins to climb out of the downturn, but Cochrane has seen an increase in business year after year. While the growth might not be huge, Robert Kalinovich, Cochrane economic development officer, said there have been gains, especially in the number of homebased businesses. Of the 1,330 Cochrane-based business licences, 680 are homebased, which has propelled the number of home-operated business to 51 per cent of business licences. Another 500 business licences are non-resident based. Kalinovich says the increase is largely a product of the growth in town and the number of new homes that have been built, adding there are likley a number of homebased businesses without licences. "These types of businesses have the potential to generate a lot of money and their resource demand is very low," Kalinovich said, adding he expects many to remain in their homes. "Plenty are doing well and have no intention of moving," he said. While some businesses have shuttered over the past year, a recent survey put out to all Cochrane business licence holders suggests owners are overall happy with the current business environment. "They're optimistic about operating in Cochrane," Kalinovich said of the survey results. He added while there are those who expressed more cautious optimism, the overall sentiment was positive. "There's always challenges," Kalinovich said, pointing to increased competition and costs of doing business. To help support community business, the town has a number of initiatives either in the works or coming up. One is the Holiday Shopping Guide, which will feature Cochrane businesses and their products and services. Part of the continuing shop local campaign, the guide will encourage holiday shoppers to buy their gifts in town. With the growth of the e-commerce sector, the town has also started an e-commerce business owners group. In its infancy, the group had a few business owners gather for an initial meeting and it is now being opened to the larger community. Kalinovich said the goal is to have the group be driven by the participating businesses who will use it as a chance to share ideas and best practices around everything from platforms being used, marketing and social media – to name a few. "There are things that people can learn from each other. To get involved, email [email protected]. Finally, the Cochrane Dollars initiative continues to grow with 100 businesses now participating. Kalinovich said about $30,000 of the Cochrane currency is in circulation and between $800 and $1,500 worth of Cochrane Dollars goes out every month.
