When the City of Estevan announced the details of its economic incentives package more than a year ago, one of the concepts was the introduction of a business incubator.
It was a tough concept for a lot of people to wrap their heads around, because it’s not something that they’re familiar with. And so there were people asking “What is a business incubator?” They’re more common in larger communities, but you won’t see them in many small communities.
An incubator allows aspiring entrepreneurs to work out of an office space as they try to get their start-up businesses off the ground. It’s not for the owner of a home-based business that sells international name-brand products to make a little money on the side for their family, it’s for those who one day see themselves running their own storefront business with multiple employees.
And it’s also a place where these entrepreneurs can receive mentorship from existing business owners.
Hopefully, it will be a place where entrepreneurs can grow together.
Known as the Launch Box, it’s a concept that actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it – a place for owners of start-up business to come together.
The federal government seems to think it’s a worthwhile. They have committed $500,000 towards the Launch Box in Estevan.
And while we have an idea of what the Launch Box will look like, the City of Estevan is looking for the public’s feedback on the concept.
It’s important for people to offer their thoughts for this survey, not just if they are aspiring entrepreneurs or existing business owners, but the public in general.
We all lean on local businesses in some way, shape or form. We all spend a lot of our money locally, even if we don’t realize it. So we all need to make our opinions heard when it comes to an initiative that will help shape business in Estevan.
And when the city is asking for the public’s opinion on something, we need to respond. After all, some citizens often complain that city council isn’t hearing their concerns, or they don’t even care. But then when the city asks for feedback, people don’t respond, at least not in the channels that they should.
(We see it each year with the city’s budget).
And if people don’t voice their opinions when invited to do so, then council might not turn to them in the future.
Ultimately, we’ll see whether this Launch Box is a successful concept, and whether there is enough interest in it, both in the short-term and the long-term. Expect it to succeed at first, with new business owners looking for the support they need to succeed, but as these entrepreneurs move out on their own, others will have to take their place.
That will be a big challenge: finding new business owners to take the place of the initial ones, even if the Launch Box proves helpful.
As we move into the next new normal for Estevan – one in which coal-fired power generation unfortunately won’t have the same impact on the community as it has in the past – we need to do all that we can to promote economic development in the community.
It means having the right people in place, having the right ideas and doing all that we can to bring new businesses to the city.
Obviously, we’re going to need something big to replace the jobs that are lost at Boundary Dam and at the coal mines when Unit 4 comes offline in 2021 and Unit 5 follows suit three years later. That’s going to be a lot of jobs lost and a lot of people looking for work elsewhere.
We’ll need to have something in place in case other coal units follow suit.
But we’ll also need those smaller projects, those businesses that will employ a handful of people but still play an important role in the community. And there will be those businesses that will be in sectors that have room for growth.
Something like the Launch Box, with its ability to help new business owners, could help fill the void we’ll be facing in the next few years.
