Business is the heartbeat for our community. A community that is generating quality jobs and creating services is vibrant. We can lower our commuter ratio – with benefits from environment to social connectivity. We add to our tax base, enhancing ability to pay for services and amenities we desire.
We have come a long way in making it easier to do business in Okotoks in the past 4 years. We need to do more.
While pursuit of a beautiful, functional, and efficient community means there will always be need for some rules, we need to continue working hard to solve challenges related to doing business in Okotoks. We need to modify some of our core guiding documents – including the Sign Bylaw and Land Use Bylaw – to adapt to a changing business environment. We need to get clear on what type of business we should be attracting into our community (I believe that technology/innovation is a good fit with our location and amenities). We need to make plans for the future of our downtown given its importance to our identity and culture.
We need to remember that most investment is local and comes from local business growth. We need to implement some new solutions that helps business thrive in Okotoks. For example, I would like to see an “Okotoks Dollars” shopping program in our community that encourages local shopping, stimulates the local economy, and supports local businesses and jobs by promoting local spending.