By Mark Ladan
The local economy here is fueled mainly by tourism. Seasonal work is what a large part of the workforce does, working in the high season from May to October, then spending the winter months on employment insurance and looking for work, until the seasonal jobs kick in again in spring.
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For some people that roller-coaster is a hard ride year after year. Many have dreams of starting their own business to create year-round work for themselves. For those with good ideas, a business plan and a drive to succeed, the startup capital is at a premium. Large banks are seldom willing to take risks on new business startups. So those with the goal of creating their own empire end up at the Parry Sound Area Community Business and Development Centre (CB and DC) as a last resort to borrow the money needed to make their dream a reality, says Bill Spinney, economic development officer.
The centre has been in existence for 15 years, and in the last two years has seen about a 40 per cent increase in the number of small business startups through a money-lending program it administers for Industry Canada.
In the fiscal year that ended in October 2000, the CB and DC had new loans of just over $1.5 million, and in the fiscal year ending in October of this year the total was just over $1.1 million, Spinney says.
"The types of businesses that we help are spread across everything from the service industry and construction to manufacturing and tourism," says Spinney. "Some go on to employ 40 or more people, but most employ much smaller numbers of two or three."
Spinney estimates about 230 jobs have been created by the small businesses that his office has helped in the last two years.
The CB and DC can also make loans available to existing businesses, that have, for some reason, been denied further credit from a chartered bank or credit union.
"Banks are very strict now in how they lend money and extend lines of credit," says Spinney. "The banks don't have any local discretion anymore, and if loan application answers don't fit into the prescribed box, a business won't get the help it needs."
The business and development centre also administered the Self Employment Benefit Program for Human Resources Development Canada until recently. That program takes people who are unemployed and have an idea for a business, puts them through a course on how to set up and manage a business, then assists in securing startup capital. The Parry Sound portion of the program is now handled by the YMCA in Midland, Spinney says.
Over the 10 years that the CB and DC has been assisting new businesses, Spinney estimates up to 60 per cent of them are still in business.
Among the businesses that the CB and DC has helped over the years is Orr's Fine Meats and Deli. Owner Murray Orr, 35, opened his business in January of this year.
He has been a butcher for 18 years, and before opening his current venture he was a partner in another butcher shop for 12 years. The first business was also helped by the centre.
In his latest venture, Orr purchased a building on one of the busiest corners in Parry Sound. The building is about 4,500 square feet. Orr uses about half the space for his butcher shop, deli, lunch counter and summer ice cream bar. He rents the rest out to other tenants.
"When I decided to move to this location, my bank was only able to take me so far," Orr says. "I probably could have done it with just the bank, but the CB and DC was able to help me out enough so that I had a good cushion and I could open the business the best way possible."
Just by moving the business, he has grown by leaps and bounds, Orr says. Something he would not have been able to do at his old location.
North of Muskoka Embroidery is another company helped by the Community Business and Development Centre. Owner Jack Lawson, 42, set up shop about three-and-a-half years ago on his own. When he needed to expand and purchase new equipment, after his first year of business in the promotional goods company, he turned to the CB and DC. The centre has also helped secure a loan from the Business Development Bank of Canada for another expansion after Year 2, says Lawson.
Lawson believes the biggest expansion in the Parry Sound economy will continue to be in the small-business sector. Without the CB and DC none of it would be possible, he says.
"If I am eventually going to have four or five employees, and 10 other people start up small businesses and hire similar numbers, it all benefits the community because there is no other industry around here," says Lawson. "We need as many entrepreneurs as possible and the business development centre needs to be there to help them get started."
Spinney believes the small-business loan program through the Parry Sound Area CB and DC should be self-sustaining because the loans are repayable with interest. The demand is much higher than what comes back in, Spinney says.
"For every $1 million in new loans that our board of directors approves, there is another $1 million worth of applications waiting," Spinney says. "Trying to get more from Industry Canada to fund these businesses that no one else is willing to (fund) is an ongoing challenge."
