by Lucie Roy
Morinville News Correspondent
More than 60 people attended the Morinville & District Chamber of Commerce Business Luncheon on Wednesday.
Schaun Goodeve, Town of Morinville Manager, Planning & Economic Development, made a half-hour presentation on the town’s role in supporting local businesses and attracting new investment. Goodeve said there were a few takeaways but first and foremost the presentation was to make sure everyone understood the town’s role in economic development.
“We are all part of the economic development team,” Goodeve told local business owners.
The presentation included slides and stats, showing Morinville with a population of 9,893 with an average household income of 114,512, with $42000 in discretionary spending.
There were a total of 518 business licenses issued to date; of which 310 are local. Others are out of town businesses, and one third represent home-based.
There are 77 per cent small businesses. There are also 28 National Brands in town; these include Dairy Queen, Tim Hortons, Sobeys, A & W, and so forth.
According to the chart 38.8 per cent are locally owned and operated with one location, 19.4 per cent are self-employed, followed by 18.4 per cent home-based business, 14.6 locally owned and operated with more than one location, and 8.7 per cent are franchises.
The majority of the business operations, more than 31 per cent describe themselves under the category of other, followed by 14.6 per cent under retail trade and only one per cent under Mining, Oil and Gas Extraction.
More than 69 per cent indicated that their primary target was local, followed by 26 percent regional, 2.9 percent national, and one per cent International.
There are 42.7 per cent that have been operating in their location for one to 5 years, and 37.9 per cent more than 10 years, 0.7 per cent less than one year and 9.7 per cent from 6 to 10 years.
The majority – 35.9 per cent – indicated they employ from 1 to 5 people, and 68.9 per cent said as a business owner they were a resident of Morinville.
Goodeve mentioned Morinville ranked number one in tax fairness in the province for businesses because Morinville is the only municipality that charges the same mill rate for residential and commercial.
He also highlighted the new advertising ad for the town, the new “There’s More in Morinville” videos, and construction ongoing in town in areas that are now zoned for business.
