It’s a heady time to be a business owner in Squamish, embracing the change that is sweeping the district and finding opportunities within it.
But the rapid growth is also creating challenges for local businesses.
A panel of entrepreneurs spoke about innovation and vision at a Squamish Chamber of Commerce luncheon held last week.
“It’s a very exciting time to be in this community right now because we don’t know what the future holds,” said David Crewson, co-founder of the business incubator Startup Squamish and one of the panel members. “We want to be able to embrace change.”
Kelly Anne Woods of Gillespie’s Fine Spirits, a local distillery, said she chose Squamish for its lifestyle and then recognized its opportunities. “We started discovering what an incredible hotbed of innovation and creativity it is,” she said. “I think it’s an exciting time in this town.”
Opportunities are “really strong” in this community, agreed Tyler Jordan of 7Mesh, a new sports clothing company. “People are gravitating to Squamish as a wonderful place to live.”
“What really excites me when I think about innovation in Squamish is that this is right in front of us – truly world-class recreational activities, truly cool people, rec tech products,” said James Morris of VentureWeb Design, referring to the recreation technology and products industry growing in Squamish. “It’s already happening here. I get really excited when I think that is a huge part of our future.”
But Sean Carron of Combustion Solutions, a manufacturer, cautioned, “It’s important to have diversity in your portfolio…. I believe it’s important that communities have a variety of industries.”
He said the Squamish lifestyle and oceanside location among the mountains helps Combustion Solutions to attract new employees to its growing staff of 52. He said people like the “Alberta wages, but they get to live in vacationland.”
Crewson noted that wages need to keep pace with housing prices in Squamish – “or we will face an affordability gap.” He stressed the need to move the economy forward and ensure that businesses create value at the same pace as residential growth.
Carron also said housing is an issue. “We hire a lot of people who can’t believe how much rent is. We have four or five suites at the Sandman Hotel so we have a place for people to stay.”
He said Squamish, unlike Vancouver, is still a place where you can afford to live “on a regular Joe’s salary,” but he is concerned that real estate prices will rise.
Woods would like to see businesses working together in Squamish, for example, setting up a concierge system among local hotels to help tourists.
Kirsten French of the soap company Be Clean Naturally said her company is in a growth phase, and her vision is to move the manufacturing into warehouse space in an industrial park. She is concerned about housing costs and availability as well as district infrastructure as her business grows.
She’d like to see the chamber of commerce promote local businesses to consumers. “I see a trend now of people choosing to shop locally and making that a lifestyle choice.”
The main focus of the chamber’s wide-ranging panel discussion, held Feb. 25 at Match restaurant at Chances Casino, was the need for businesses to work together and to create a vision.
“I think the challenge we are going to be facing is: Do we have the capability of controlling our own destiny?” asked Crewson. “We need to be very intentional and very courageous on the way we move our economy forward.”
