SBAB Blog.

The AGM of the Small Business Association of Banff was held on Wednesday, 22nd. Our AGM was well attended with three new Board members appointed. Director and Secretary Kees Van der lee has stepped down after his long term as a founding Director. Kees was thanked for his significant contributions to the SBAB. The 2009 membership remains healthy and continued positive growth is anticipated. We were also pleased that the guests included the Mayor, John Stutz. Town Manager, Robert Earl. Julie Canning, Stu Back and Anne Frick from Banff Lake Louise Tourism, Vicki Smith from the Banff Lake Louise Hotel Motel Association The text of the Chairman’s report to the AGM can be viewed online by clicking here.

There were a number of announcements. Of a time sensitive nature it was advised that:
• The Bike Fest has been approved, in a bigger and better form. If you have any comments regarding the route in town, please attend the Open House that Banff Lake Louise Tourism are holding on the on the 29th April between 2 and 4 pm, Cascade Plaza, 3rd Floor.
• The Town is considering making parking spots available on Bow Avenue. 40 spots on Bow Avenue were made available on a temporary basis during Banff Refreshing, the Town is considering making these spots permanent. If you have views or concerns upon this you should advise the Town immediately as the decision making process is underway.

The junction at Lynx and Wolf is undergoing construction works, this will involve some delays and diversion. The work is scheduled to be complete by July 1st.

The first quarter retail survey results have been revealed. The results are interesting but only available to members taking part. If you want to see how you are doing compared to the average you should take part. You can register with Anne Frick at anne@banfflakelouise.com. The figures go to an independent 3rd party and so your store or restaurant information remains confidential as only percentage of change information is shared.

Finally it was announced that the Town is helping to provide general indicators of economic activity in Banff. They are erecting semi permanent traffic counters to measure vehicular visitation. In addition they weigh the commercial waste that the town produces each day, the figures this year not suprisingly are down on last. The figures are available upon request (a new page will be added here in the future with ongoing available information).

The Board welcomes three new Directors, Dean Bailey, Lorraine Eckstrand and Jean Roberts. As ever contact details for the SBAB and Directors can be found at http://businessinbanff.org/about/.

Members are reminded that they can add their business to the Members links, for free, and can now add special offers they may have.

Visit http://businessinbanff.org/small-business-links/members-specials/ to see the current offers.

Don’t forget that the SBAB AGM and complimentary lunch is next Wednesday (22nd April) between 1 and 3pm at the Banff Park Lodge, with registration at 12.45pm. All members are invited, and encouraged, to attend.
(The menu for the complimentary lunch is at the foot of this post)

You can still register for the lunch, just let Sally, at sally_p@shaw.ca, know, today, that you will be attending. An application form for SBAB membership can be downloaded here.

Also you are reminded that members can advertise their business here at no cost. Just provide your web address or a contact number and a message to potential clients (no more than 30 words). As this becomes more used by members and more businesses can be found then it will feature more prominently in Google searches.

At the last Board meeting it was decided, among other things, to write to Janice Tarchuck regarding the change in minimum wage change. Though the decision may not be reversible it was felt we should request an amendment to help impacted businesses, such as restaurants that unofficially pay more than minimum wage after gratuities are taken into account. The intent is to ask for something they can work with rather than to reverse a decision that is likely not reversible.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday.

Lunch Buffet

Homemade Soup of the Day
Mixed Green Salad with Assorted Dressings
Assorted Sandwich Tray with European Cold Cuts, Black Forest Ham, Sliced Alberta Beef, Tuna Salad and Chicken Salad on Kaisers, French Baguette, Rye and Whole Wheat Breads
Pickles and Condiments
French Pastries and Fruit Salad
Coffee & Tea

The first automated email advice of our refreshed blog did not give you the option to opt out of receiving advice when the blog updates. The opt out should be found at the foot of this, and future, updates.

As the updates will be, on average, less than once a week but may contain important and time sensitive information pertaining to your business then we highly recommend that you stay in the update programme.

Welcome to the ‘refreshed’ blog for the operators of small business in Banff. Please browse both the blog and the supporting pages.

Briefly this is meant to be a two way communication device in that we will update you on what we are doing. The blog is open to be viewed by all. However only members of the SBAB, who we represent, can tell us what they think of our actions / discussions, or tell us what concerns them, or view the members only area of the site. They can do this by commenting on the blog or confidentially by contacting one of the board members.

Non members may sign up at any point in the year, the annual fee of $100 is minimal when one compares that cost to the benefits of membership.

The AGM of the SBAB is to take place on 22nd April between 1 and 3pm at the Banff Park Lodge, with registration at 12.45pm. All members are invited, and encouraged, to attend. This is both an important time to refocus the Association and a good time to network among peers in the small business community. (The menu for the complimentary lunch is at the foot of this post)

The Association has a healthy number of members but those currently not signed up for this year may bring a completed application form with them, to the complimentary lunch, so long as they have indicated by email to Sally at sally_p@shaw.ca that they intend to attend by Friday 17th. If not signed up for this year. Click here to check out the added value that membership provides.

We look forward to seeing you on the 22nd.

Lunch Buffet

Homemade Soup of the Day
Mixed Green Salad with Assorted Dressings
Assorted Sandwich Tray with European Cold Cuts, Black Forest Ham, Sliced Alberta Beef, Tuna Salad and Chicken Salad on Kaisers, French Baguette, Rye and Whole Wheat Breads
Pickles and Condiments
French Pastries and Fruit Salad
Coffee & Tea

The SBAB Blog has now moved to http://www.businessinbanff.org.

We plan to update on a more regular basis and include more items that we hope you will find interesting.

We intend to grow the site so that it has more relevance to you and provides you with both information and opportunity.

Please bookmark the page and check in regularly.

A survey of SBAB membership regarding this past summer’s Banff Live event has been completed.

We have received a good response with 47 members completing the survey.

Several questions generated a very definitive view from our small business community. Close to 60% of those surveyed gave the event pretty low marks and a similar percentage did not feel the event met it’s goals.

Please find attached the complete survey results in PDF format.

We welcome SBAB members to post your comments here on the blog.

Banff Live Survey

Please see below in MS Word Format minutes of April 1st 2008 Directors meeting.

Also included is letter sent from Justin Burwash to Janis Tarchuk regarding the Alberta Minimum wage issue.

minutes-april-1-2008-sbab1

minimum-wage

Please see below a note from Rob Seeley, Chairman of the SBAB Board of Directors:

The SBAB does not want Banff refreshing to become another summer project and recent events prompted an SBAB Advocacy meeting and letter to Mayor and Council. The project was scheduled to be completed on June 27. Extending these timelines due to numerous concerns and the financial impact to our business community has the advocacy committee and the SBAB worried. This has been a flagship project, and at the end of the day one that I hope we can all be proud of to share with other municipalities.

It cannot be understated, the cost to the impacted businesses and the understanding that this undertaking was originally agreed to be completed in a single season with a finalization date of June 27^th. This date was recently outlined as no longer possible, the contractor is unavailable in the fall and extending the time lines to the spring of 2009 at an additional cost of between $200 - $300 K was rejected by the Block captains. The consensus from them is to get the project finished. A significant push and understanding needs to occur, with agreements in place, to complete the major components and street closures ASAP while maximizing around-the-clock work days and manpower. We need to hold the contractor and town to time lines and require your feed back and support when we go to Council.

Regards,

Rob

Please see below also the letter drafted by the SBAB Board to be delivered to Town Council.

————————————————————-
27th May 2008

Dear Mayor Stutz and Council

Please accept this letter as open correspondence on behalf of Town Council.

We write on behalf of our 70 paid members, representing over 100 businesses and over 1200 employees in town, and no doubt echo the sentiments of many others.

We have become aware that the one year ‘Banff Refreshing’ project with subsequent Spring completion is now projected to carry on into a second summer season and beyond.

The current state of the travel industry requires us to rely ever more on Provincial traffic, yet we cause ourselves to be a less than attractive alternative with the chaos that ensued the last long weekend. (You may or not be aware that traffic was backed up to Highway 1 at the west end of town)

As major contributors to the public purse, our members can not afford a second season of disruption. Time is of the essence to be in a position to present a construction free Banff for the summer.

With Canada Day falling on a Tuesday, we would expect that Friday June 27 will be the start of a very busy weekend leading up to Canada Day. It is fundamental that current works and cleanup be complete by June 27th as promised by the approving Council. To clarify we require that all work stop on that date. We leave it to you to prioritise the works up to that date, and if required, resume in the fall.

It would be prudent to leave both the mid-block crosswalks, final paving and other incomplete works to the fall. Given the fact that the crosswalks are, as yet untested this allows for less waste if they prove to need further consideration when the summer usage is analysed.

We believe the main concern is to finish the Wolf, Caribou and Buffalo intersections, given the amount of assets Standard General are allocating to the task and the curing times involved, this would probably be all that could be completed up to that date.

The balance of the works could then be scheduled for the fall or even the spring of 2009. Our members are aware that this would incur additional costs and feel that, having borne the brunt of the losses last year those costs should be shared equally by all of the taxpayers.

As time is of the essence your immediate attention is required. We are ready to meet with you at your earliest convenience.

Yours truly,

Small Business Association of Banff

PS It should be noted that it seems premature to schedule a celebration of the completion of the project at this time.

From Stuart Back of Banff Lake Louise Tourism:

You are invited to our Members After Hours on Wednesday May 21, 2008 at 5:00 pm.

Location is the West Lobby of the Eric Harvie Theatre at the Banff Centre.

Come and learn about the new Online Accommodation Availability System and Banff Indexperience

Please RSVP to leona@banfflakelouise.com

Stuart Back Director, In Resort Services

T: 403.762.0283 F: 403.762.8163

stu@banfflakelouise.com