The Town is posting out tax assessments tomorrow (Friday). Having received your notice, or phoned your Landlord to discuss the same, you will no doubt have major concerns.

Frank Watson is with Bow Valley Property Valuators. He assists the Town of Banff with Property assessments. He does not set the Mill Rate so he is not to blame for increasing taxes but he is the one that is in the ‘know’ on how the system works and what the Town may be looking at.

Frank has agreed to attend our regular monthly meeting. These meetings are always open to the membership. However this time, to encourage attendance, we have generously been provided with a larger venue and a FREE LUNCH. (Our thanks to Vicki Smith of Banff Rocky Mountain Resort).

Frank will be able to answer any questions we may have, he is an excellent resource for us to have available and we thank him for taking the time to attend. This is your chance to get a feel what the Town of Banff is faced with, and how they are going to implement their tax increase and how it will affect you as a Small Business Owner.

Time is money they say but spend some time by coming along to try and save some money.

The meeting is on Tuesday, next week, March 2, 2010, 12:00 – 1:30 pm at Banff Rocky Mountain Resort.

To get the Luncheon numbers right let Sally, at sally_p@shaw.ca, or by phone to 403-760-9414 know that you will be attending by Monday.

Guests are welcome to attend this special presentation and complimentary luncheon.

If you are not yet a member you can download an application form here or contact Sally Plunkett to receive one in the post.

A summary of advocacy efforts and marketing events the SBAB has successfully been involved with include:

• Annual National Parks Planning Forum and Banff National Park Management Plan
• Town of Banff, Budgeting Process and Commercial Taxation
• Town of Banff, By-Law Review
• Town of Banff, Community Plan
• Buy Local/Save Local Advertising Campaign
• Banff Refreshing
• WinterStart - Parade, Window decoration competition, Snowman
• Dress Western Days for Stampede
• Alternative Revenue Strategies

SBAB has established a highly respected voice within the community, offering feedback on a variety of issues to the different levels of government and organizations that encompass this unique business environment. The benefit of having that respected voice comes at the very reasonable price, even in a difficult trading environment, of the cost of membership.

The SBAB committees include:
• Advocacy Committee: to give small businesses in Banff a strong voice on a wide variety of issues affecting our unique business environment.
• Membership Services Committee: to assist with membership recruitment and growth; to offer benefits to members (such as workshops); and to help businesses become more competitive and informed through a communication network system.
• Marketing Committee: to promote small businesses through promotional and special events; to partner with other organizations.

The renewal notice includes an invitation to take part in the committee work of the SBAB. Please consider doing so, as the time commitment is not great but the rewards to the general membership are potentially so.

When you receive your renewal notice please respond immediately, to avoid forgetting. If you are not yet a member you can download an application form here or contact Sally Plunkett to receive one in the post.

To properly represent you SBAB has prepared a survey “Business in Banff 2009″ (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Yc_2fiU5o6nNABCIyCnI0mBA_3d_3d) and the results of this survey will be incorporated into a SBAB presentation to council in the coming days.

We would appreciate if you could complete this short survey as soon as possible to provide strong data for the SBAB presentation, please find the time to take part as soon as you can.

In addition, please advise if you would be interested in assisting the SBAB Advocacy Committee with this initiative. We need a group of individuals with expertise and/or interest in the subject to help prepare for the presentation to council. Please advise Ossi Treutler if you can help.

Can you afford to pay more tax?

For most of us this has been a tough year and for many cash reserves are stretched. If next year stays depressed then spending by the Town Administration needs to reflect our circumstances. The time of year has come for the Town to deliberate budgets. The budget is only approached once there is agreement upon what the current financial philosophies of the Town are. As a commercial rate taxpayer and owner of a small business in Banff the Town is interested in your views. The proposed philosophy document can be found at 2010 Town of Banff Financial Plan. The Small Business Association of Banff is reviewing the document and putting forward comments upon behalf of its members. What do you want us to say?. You can have your concerns, or comments, taken into account by advising Ossi Treutler or Rob McIntyre. Or you can raise them direct with the Town.

Winter Start

The summer, for what it was worth, is now over and we look forward to a decent winter season. Banff Lake Louise Tourism (BLLT) are heavily promoting Banff as a Provincial winter destination and place to shop. To that end all members with a public frontage, and in particular retailers, are asked to play their part with the Christmas appearance and make sure they have their Christmas lights and decorations on for the Winter Start program which commences on November 16th (a week on Monday).

Part of the Winter Start program includes the Retail Window Competition on December 4th. The stakes this year have been exponentially raised with the introduction of a trophy. (There is no application process, your window will be judged on its merits as the judges walk around on the 4th).

Then on Dec 5th are the annual Santa Claus Parade of Lights and Christmas Tree Decorating Competition. Businesses are encouraged to enter a float, in the parade. Applications for events are made to Micaela Schrag by email, or call 403-762-0284, at BLLT with deadlines of 16th Nov for the Christmas Tree Decorating Competition and Nov 23rd for the parade. With the tree decorating there are nine trees, supplied by BLLT, they are positioned around Cascade Mall for the whole of the holiday season thus helping give the entrants a raised business profile.

BLLT business plan presentation

BLLT would also like to advise members that there is to be a business plan presentation on November 12th, 9 - 11 am, at the Banff Centre, Eric Harvie Theatre, West Lobby and the information will be available on a drop in basis at BLLT on the 13th from 2-3.30pm.

Small Business Lunch

The Small Business Association is to hold business lunches, when there is a speaker available who has a knowledge in areas of interest to members. Barbara Kosterski, of Banff Aspen Lodge, has volunteered to give the first talk on the subject of hiring foreign workers. Though not an issue this year, it may well be next, as many of us turn to hiring foreign workers again in the summer and know the frustrations that it can cause. We hope you will attend this event at 12pm on the 18th November at Banff Park Lodge. The first is to be complimentary to members and $15 to non members, to keep the annual fees to minimum it is highly likely that for future events there will also be a cost of meal charge for members. Please advise Sally Plunkett if you are attending or not, so that we can plan numbers.

This weekend is the Bike Fest special event, put on by Banff Lake Louise Tourism, which should bring quite a few folk to town and its Fathers Day, should my children have forgotten. So hopefully our members will do well.

July the 3rd is the start of the Calgary Stampede. The Small Business Association of Banff encourages businesses to participate in the “Dress Western” campaign to welcome the arrival of the Calgary Stampede. Starting June 28th until the end of Stampede businesses are encouraged to add some western flair to get in the spirit of Stampede. Decorate your window, get out your silver belt buckle and put on your cowboy boots; this is the time to show our guests our great western hospitality. There is no prize for best window or most enthusiastic staff - its just for fun. (Some cynical folk may think its to do with improving sales with a party atmosphere, but that is just an anticipated side effect.) It would be really neat if it was embraced by all the businesses so that even the plumber turns out to be dressed as a cowboy.

Further to our letter to Janis Tarchuck regarding the Alberta minimum wage we received her reply. The Hon. Hector Goudreau (Minister of Employment & Immigration) will be responding in more detail. We will advise of that response in due course.

Members are reminded that they just need to advise us if they want their details on the Members links on these pages.

Mayor John Stutz attended the meeting and conveyed to the board the gratitude of Council in providing the results of the recent surveys. Due to the number of responses the views revealed are felt to be highly representative of the Small Business community. It is likely that Council will use this medium to reach out to the business community and canvas your opinion on future issues.

It is rewarding to know your voice counts, the SBAB board thanks the respondees for their past participation and encourages all recipients to respond to future requests to participate. Being mindful of the value your time the board undertakes not to abuse your goodwill by conducting an inappropriate number of surveys.

The Mayor also talked about the economic benefit, to the business community, of upgrades to the plans for the Rec Center. On the issue of parking it was revealed that the demolition and provision of another parking lot on Beaver Street should occur by July 1st.

On another note there has been a Busking committee struck and SBAB (Ossi Jr.) has representation on it, the only non administrative representation.

This committee has drafted two DRAFT documents, the busker permit conditions and the poposed busking locations map

We have the opportunity to comment and make changes, suggestions etc. so please review. If you have comments please email Ossi Treutler at ossi@freyas.ca, the dead line for comments on the busking issue is June 10th as documents will be presented to Council for approval on June 22nd.

Those taking part in and receiving feedback in the retail and restaurant survey are reminded to submit this months figures. Those who are not are still welcome to start, please email Anne Frick at Anne@banfflakelouise.com

Finally, members and non members should be aware that there is a person in town using counterfeit US currency.

Non board members are welcome to attend the monthly meetings, the details of each next meeting are to be found on the calendar

Hot on the heels of those successful surveys is another, regarding parking tickets. The issuing of tickets has a direct effect upon visitor experience and again your input is sought, as before the invitation to participate in feedback is extended to non members.

On Monday May 25th Bylaw services are expected to bring a report to council which will relate to time related parking offences. This survey is intended to provide council with input on this issue.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=9wJoOl1mresdwk_2b73h_2fSCQ_3d_3d” title=”Parking Survey”>Please click here to link to survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=9wJoOl1mresdwk_2b73h_2fSCQ_3d_3d.

Background info
For this survey “Time related parking” relates only to 3 hour and 12 hour parking spots that are currently found throughout Banff. It does not relate to drop off or loading zones, bus zones, taxi zones, handicapped zones etc.. The following link will take you to the town’s current map on downtown parking which also shows time allowances.

Time related parking offences are covered in Traffic Bylaw 16-6 section 24. Use the following link to access Traffic Bylaw 16-6

The section reads:
24. Where a Traffic Control Device restricts the parking of Vehicles to a number of minutes or hours, no Person shall park or leave a Vehicle in excess of the time so designated and marked on the Traffic Control Device.

The penalty is:

24. Parking in contravention of time limits $30.00

There is an opportunity for a $10.- discount if violation is paid within 7 days.

There are also appeal processes in place.

Rec Centre Survey

Parking Survey

Tuesday saw the first board meeting since the AGM. Among other things the minutes of the April meeting were approved. Until the private area is completed the board minutes will be published on this part of the blog. In the future they will be available only to members.

Members are encouraged to use the SBAB logo in their letterhead and advertising, just right click the link and select ‘Save link as’. The benefit in doing so is that being the member of such an organisation demonstrates the bona fide nature of your business and reinforces the appearance of permanence. Members are also reminded to register as a preferred supplier of the Small Business Association in Banff, just reply to this email with your business name, your contact details (web address / email / phone number) and up to 30 words of text that you would like included about your business.

Ossi Treutler gave an excellent upbeat message in a Global TV interview on how Banff is faring in these times. You can view the interview at http://www.globaltv.com/globaltv/calgary/video/index.html?releasePID=GQ3KYdPVghho7jT8atjnT3OLkrETYSC0.

Finally. The Town is reviewing the byelaw regarding buskers. If you have an interest or want your views to be heard contact Ossi at ossi@freyas.ca.

Background information to the Rec Centre survey

An important issue facing Town Council is the immediate decision regarding the redevelopment of our Recreation Center. This decision requires your feedback and input to reposition both Phase I (new curling ring with four sheets and full renovation of existing ice rink) and Phase II (new NHL sized 2nd ice surface).

On April 14, 2009, Council passed a motion for a Borrowing Bylaw for $15.1 M to provide funds towards the construction of both Phase I and Phase II. Prior to this, the Town of Banff had acquired $6 M through a CAMRIF grant that must be directed towards Phase I of this construction and due to the required demolition of the existing curling rink and mini ice surface, Phase I will proceed, or the funds will be lost.

Council’s original intention was to pay off the $15.1 M borrowed, over a 10 year period through the provincial Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funding of approximately $5 M/year that was to be allocated to the Town of Banff annually over that time and with other provincial grants that have been already been applied for. The 2009 Alberta budget has adversely affected MSI funds that the Town of Banff will be acquiring for 2009-10. At this time, it is unknown what the MSI funding allocation will be for subsequent years. Due to this uncertainty, Council will consider options regarding this project by revisiting the future Capital Budget plan at the May 11, 2009 Council meeting.

The following paragraphs of information related to the economic impact of the recreation center;

The Banff Recreation Centre functions as one of Banff’s major community gathering places with over 78,000 user visits occurring annually. This translates into approximately 800-1000 residents using the building multiple times throughout the year in addition to the hundreds of visitors that come each year. While most of the usage can be attributed to local residents it is estimated that approximately 1/3 of this usage comes from visitors to the community attending minor and adult hockey tournaments, summer hockey school, and curling bonspiels. These tournaments, hockey school and bonspiel participants book hotel rooms, shop for souvenirs and eat and drink in local food and beverage establishments. Expansion of the Recreation Centre to include a 2nd ice surface would most likely facilitate the hosting of two to three times the number of tournaments, resulting in the doubling or tripling of visitors to the community for these activities. Strategic planning of these tournaments, (inviting more teams and holding the tournament over multiple days) has the potential to double the room nights required by tournaments visitors, provided a second ice surface is available. Town staff would work on a strategic sales and marketing plan to expand the community’s tournament and bonspiel business.

Besides the economic benefits realized through visitor usage of the facilities, community use also creates a positive economic impact on the community.

Healthy, active residents contribute to healthy workplaces. Employees who are active are less likely to have on the job accidents, are more productive and less likely to miss work due to illness. Kids who remain active are less likely to get ill, meaning parents miss less work to stay home with sick children as a result. Health care costs are also impacted positively by active residents.

To help maintain a healthy, productive service industry, a range of choices for leisure and recreation are necessary. Banff’s 18-35 year olds make significant use of the Recreation Centre. Its’ expansion would provide more opportunities for use and would, at the same time, act as an attractant for new families and young professionals looking to make Banff home.

We would like your opinions regarding the various impacts, economic and construction of Phase II (a 2nd NHL sized ice surface).

Please click on the link above to take a confidential short survey. The results of this survey will be provided to Town of Banff Council.

We thank you in advance for your participation!

Therefore Banff Lake Louise Tourism invites you to attend an information session, today, on the Banff National Park Bike Fest being staged June 18 21. Find out what new and exciting components have been added to grow the event and learn about the changes to last years race courses that run within the Town of Banff.

When: April 29
Time: 2 pm 4 pm
Where: Banff Lake Louise Tourism Boardroom (3rd floor Cascade Plaza).

Also remember that this weekend is the Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Festival. This is an excellent event to attend. However even if you are not attending then it should bring much needed folk to your businesses.

There is currently no reason for concern in Banff, but all business owners should do their part to reduce a risk of infection.

Both money and computer keyboards are very ‘dirty’ and ideal places for germs to breed.

Staff should be reminded that it is prudent to wash their hands frequently and especially before eating, drinking or smoking. This applies particularly to front line staff that handle money. Businesses that have regular customer contact with a work surface, such as a door handle, should clean the surface regularly with a normal cleaning product.

Symptoms of swine flu in humans apparently appear to be similar to those produced by standard, seasonal flu. These include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, chills and fatigue. Staff showing symptoms should go home and seek medical advice rather than risk the health of their colleagues.

I reiterate that these are only sensible precautions that we should be performing anyway. There is no immediate cause for concern.