Update April 15, 2020
Stay YKA Connected with online resources to receive relevant and timely information and provide important and necessary tools for Kamloops businesses and residents to endure the COVID-19 crisis.
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PARTNER UPDATES
Financial Impacts of COVID-19 on City Budget
In order to address City of Kamloops budget shortfalls due to the pandemic, City Council requested a budget report at the April 21st Council Meeting. The report must balance the 2020 budget and the 2020–2024 Five-Year Financial Plan. Learn more Here.
City of Kamloops COVID-19 Update – April 9, 2020
Mayor Ken Christian is joined by Jesse Bhatty from Interior Health to talk about physical distancing, scams and what residents can do to flatten the curve. Here
Weekly Industry Survey
BC Regional Destination Management Organizations, in partnership with community tourism marketing organizations and the BC Hotel Association, are working to understand the current and potential future impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on businesses throughout the Province. Here’s a quick survey to let us know about your business.
Google Support
The spread of COVID-19 has affected many DMOs, tourist attractions and businesses that are now facing extended periods of closure. This presents many unique challenges for tourism operators and businesses. Here are a few tips on how businesses can provide accurate information to their customers:
- If your hours of operation have changed, edit your Business Profile on Google.
- Use posts to communicate information directly on your Business Profile on Google, like special offers or inventory updates.
- Consider setting an email auto-reply with answers to frequently asked questions.
Google has also now made it easier for businesses to mark they are ‘temporarily closed’. You can read more on Google’s response to COVID-19 here.
Best Practices for Virtual BC Experiences
While we’re encouraging our visitors to dream now and explore BC later, one way to stay top of mind and maintain engagement with your audience is by creating and sharing a virtual experience through your social media channels. Destination BC has created a toolkit to help you bring the sights and sounds of your experience, attraction, or destination to visitors, so they can enjoy what you have to offer from the comforts of their homes.
Connect with Venture Kamloops – Planning for the Future
Venture Kamloops is reaching out to local businesses during this unprecedented disruption. Last week, we started discussions with clients about the current condition of their business to begin planning for the future. Our team is continuing this outreach in the short term.
If you haven’t heard from us yet and would like to talk to us, please reach out.
info@venturekamloops.com | Phone: 250.828.6818
The Latest Business Support Programs
Governments and the private sector are providing a wide-range of supports for businesses in British Columbia affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government of BC’s guide is updated frequently and you can navigate the most up-to-date information to help you:
COVID-19: Support for Businesses in B.C.
Learning Opportunities & Webinars
- Short Term Funding and Financing is an interactive Digital Meetup on Wednesday April 15 at 11:00am, hosted by Small Business BC.
- Strength in Numbers: Legal Q&A is an interactive webinar to answer questions about contracts, leases, insurance and other issues on Friday April 17 at 10:00am, hosted by Women’s Enterprise Centre.
SURVEY: The third iteration of our ongoing pulse check survey has been released. Your input is still needed as we navigate the gaps in the current support systems Provincially and Federally. Your voice is important, and we are listening, please participate and share this survey.🗣
ADVOCACY: Tyson Andrykew, Chamber Board President, sent a letter urging the City of Kamloops to proceed with as many infrastructure projects as possible to keep our community working while practicing social distancing guidelines. Read the letter. 📣
SUPPORT: Help is on the way. We are partnering with community leaders to create virtual meetups to help you navigate COVID-19. Let’s talk about support systems, business strategy, recovery and innovation, virtually. View our upcoming offerings. 💡
RECOGNITION: Have you nominated a standout community leader for a Business Excellence Award? The deadline to nominate our friends, neighbours and peers has been extended to May 4 @ 11:59 PM PDT. Send some love to a local business here. 🏆
Business resources: On Wednesday April 15th, at 2pm we will be offering a free webinar for the business community. ‘Adapting your business model in challenging times’ is intended to offer peer-to-peer mentorship based on local case studies, and will include key resources and tools for small businesses. The session will be facilitated by Maren Luciani with local business leaders David Tombs (Terra Restaurant) and Nicki James (Mainstreet Clothing) presenting. REGISTER HERE
Safety: The CAP team continues to patrol the KCBIA area. A key observation has been in relation to the vulnerable populations. During the absence of people visiting and shopping downtown, activities of the vulnerable populations are particularly more ‘noticeable’. However, it does not appear that the numbers of these individuals has increased. Incidents requiring RCMP response have been relatively low.
Communication: The KCBIA continues to advocate for business support, and an economic recovery plan. We participated in a podcast scheduled to air on NL radio Saturday April 18th, at 8am. Additionally, we regularly collaborate with colleagues, and updates are being shared with our Board, our members, and other stakeholders. We have also responded to other media interviews.
Community Futures Self Employment Services – The Self-Employment program is designed to support clients who would like to start a business and have an idea that is appropriate and based on the local labour market. This is still true during the COVID-19 Pandemic and virtual Self-Employment services are ongoing during the crisis. The program will provide a holistic evaluation of your business concept and our Business Coach will work with you to meet all of the necessary business requirements and provide advice and access to the resources you will require to start your career as an entrepreneur. Eligible clients will receive financial supports for the 48-week duration of the program. Contact Community Futures today to find out more.
Community Futures Continuity Plan – It’s never to late to develop a continuity plan for your business when facing a crisis. Community Futures’ comprehensive emergency and continuity planning document will prepare your business in the face of an emergency or crisis situation. A valuable part of continuity planning is evaluating business opportunities during a crisis. The interactive Business Continuity Plan can be found Here.
COVID-19 Loan Program – CFTC is offering loans to businesses in the Kamloops area that have been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak resulting from Provincial/Federal regulations and associated social distancing. MORE INFO
COVID-19 Business Support Program
CFTC will be providing one to one virtual and phone support to businesses who require assistance to complete Federal and Provincial relief applications. This service is available to all Kamloops and area business owners. Businesses are able to access this service by calling the CFTC office at: 250-828-8772 or email at reception@communityfutures.net.
Member Updates:
The North Shore Business Improvement Association is providing full business listing updates via our website every other day. For information on open businesses, hours and level of service, click here.
Business Development:
Our team is working on a series of business resumption seminars, that we will be sharing soon. We are defining the details of the programs to be offered, with the goal of having you set up to open and gain traction, as soon as the distancing protocols end. If there is a topic you would like to see included, please email Jeremy@nsbia.com. Watch for member emails to be delivered to your inbox soon.
Coaching:
We continue to have members phone in for advice and guidance on how to adapt to the current situation. Complimentary coaching is available through our partners, for our Shore based businesses. I encourage you to contact me for details on how to take advantage of these sessions at jeremy@nsbia.com.
Virtual Mentoring Meet Up:
NSBIA members are encouraged to join our Virtual Mentoring Meetup, April 23rd at 4:00pm. This session will be a roundtable discussion on the state of our business community, and to seek out opportunities to join our members together to increase peer to peer mentoring and our sense of community. To be added to the session, Contact Jeremy@nsbia.com, or call 250.376.2411.
Kamloops passengers continue to be served by WestJet with 4 x weekly service to Calgary. Passengers are reminded that travel restrictions remain in place for any person showing symptoms of COVID-19. Latest information on travel restrictions can be found at Here.
Limited access to the Air Terminal Building remains available for the travelling public during scheduled flight times and passengers are reminded to observe physical distancing measures when in the facility. The Airport remains fully operational to serve charter, air cargo, medivac and wildfire flight activity.
Kamloops Airport Ltd. along with the Canadian Airports Council, are actively engaging the federal and provincial governments to ensure that Kamloops Airport and its stakeholders are well-represented on relief measures needed to continue delivery of a safe and secure operating environment for our community and business partners.
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