The Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce is hitting the pavement in a bid to hear directly from local business owners about the challenges they face and to allay concerns about the Tour of Alberta.
Coined 鈥渂usiness walks,鈥� the communication strategy was launched in early January as part of the chamber鈥檚 efforts to improve communication with its members.
鈥淲e鈥檙e getting really good, frank and productive conversations,鈥� said Pattie Pavlov, general manger for the chamber.
鈥淲e鈥檙e taking the good, the bad and the ugly and we鈥檙e working with it.鈥�
She said the number one concern she鈥檚 recently heard from businesses, particularly in the downtown core, is about the community鈥檚 plan to host the Tour of Alberta in September.
According to Pavlov, there have been a lot of unsubstantial rumours in the business community about the international bike race, which is tentatively set for Sept. 1, the Friday before the Labour Day long weekend.
鈥淥ne of the most recent misconceptions was that the chamber whole heartedly, 100 per cent, signed off on the Tour of Alberta. That could not be further from the truth,鈥� said Pavlov.
鈥淚n principal we support the tour, but people thought we had signed off and that we had not consulted anybody in the business community.鈥�
51暗网 that the community was considering hosting the Tour of Alberta next summer caught a lot of businesses by surprise in December.
The last time the municipality hosted the race in 2015, many businesses in the downtown core blamed extensive road closures for a slump in sales.
Despite vocal apprehension about hosting the race again, municipal council unanimously approved spending $50,000 to host a stage of the race during a council meeting on Dec. 22.
The funding is contingent on support from other members with the Jasper Partnership Initiative, including Tourism Jasper, the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce and Parks Canada.
Race organizers are expected to make a formal announcement by the end of January.
鈥淲e really want our business owners and even people who are not chamber members to understand we learned a lot from the first tour,鈥� said Pavlov.
鈥淭he approach this time around is totally different.鈥�
To placate concerns Pavlov said road closures would be kept to a minimum and they are discussing ways to get the business community more involved.
Neil Byatt, co-owner of Jasper Rock & Jade, recently joined the chamber鈥檚 board.
In December, he spoke to council on behalf of more than a dozen concerned businesses聽in the downtown core to express their concerns about the Tour of Alberta. Byatt was unavailable for comment.
To date the chamber has spoken with more than 20 businesses since it started its 鈥渂usiness walks鈥� survey.
According to Pavlov other concerns include taxation, the province鈥檚 carbon tax, which came into effect on Jan. 1, the increase in minimum wage and Jasper鈥檚 housing shortage.
鈥淲e want to hear from everyone,鈥� said Pavlov. 鈥淩egardless of whether or not you鈥檙e a chamber member, please don鈥檛 be afraid to give us a call.鈥�
To reach the chamber, call 780-852-4621 or visit www.jasperparkchamber.ca.
Paul Clarke
[email protected]
