We need to flip that narrative.

As we welcome new investment in our City, we must be prepared to set new and existing businesses up for success. Edmonton should be an easy, convenient, and affordable place to do business. To achieve that, I believe we need to transform the way the City interacts with businesses.

That’s why I’m proposing the establishment of a Business Advocate Office (BAO)—a one-stop shop for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to turn to for resources and guidance, a place that offers a streamlined process to encourage growth and development. 

This office will be a coordinating body and advocate within the City and with other stakeholders to ensure the City helps businesses to succeed, rather than becoming an obstacle for businesses to overcome. 

Another mechanism that the BAO can support business growth is through offering education and resources regarding City procurement. While the City must adhere to trade agreements—which limit what the City can do directly—encouraging local businesses to bid on local contracts and ensuring they have the resources to submit competitive bids can help to stimulate the local economy and create jobs. It is also a means of bringing businesses that have historically been left behind into the process, including minority- and women-led businesses. 

Supporting businesses from startup to growth and beyond

The BAO will be a single point of contact that works across the city, advocates to other orders of government, and works as a convener of key stakeholders to champion the city and our key industries. It will leverage existing City services, resources, and processes that work, end those that don’t and fill in the gaps along the way. 

It will report to Council regularly to ensure it is making a positive impact for the business community.

The BAO will also help businesses work through the challenges of starting and growing their companies and create a simpler, more user-friendly process and environment. 

It will centralize resources available for businesses, so they don’t have to go to many different places and departments to access City services. This will allow business owners to focus on what they are good at, building businesses and creating jobs, not wasting resources and time navigating City departments. Every day saved from navigating complex bureaucratic hurdles means making doing business in Edmonton more easy, convenient and affordable. 

The specific functions of the Business Advocate Office

By combining existing functions, and redirecting resources from within the City, we can create a dedicated office that supports and advocates for SMEs. Those functions include:

• Consolidating existing small business supports into one central, easy to reach office.
• Assisting with permitting and licensing by helping navigate the process and ensuring timely outcomes.
• Supporting businesses once they relocate/expand to Edmonton.
• Supporting the growth of existing SMEs in Edmonton by accessing supports and resources, and navigating licensing, permitting and regulatory barriers.
• Reaching out to businesses through liaison roles that are based in the community and will go out to visit businesses to understand their needs, not wait for businesses to come to see them.
• Providing specific expertise and support for businesses owned by equity-seeking community members.
• Assisting businesses to build their capacity to identify and apply for Requests for Proposal (RFPs) and grants at all orders of government.
• Advocating other city departments and City Council on regulatory and other issues identified by businesses, and supporting businesses to work through regulatory issues.
• Ensuring transparency and communication.
• Ensuring continuous improvements to keep pace with what businesses require, opportunities, and what our partners are doing – leveraging what we are hearing from the community and establishing performance targets and metrics.
• Building capacity within the community for entrepreneurs to take an idea and make it a reality.

An equity approach to support SMEs

It’s important that the City helps support SMEs to ensure their success and by extension the success of Edmonton’s economy. But there are broader equity considerations we must address to ensure we reduce barriers for women in business, Indigenous business owners and other marginalized groups.

To me, that means:

• Connecting the BAO with other resources and services in the City that reduce barriers, such as City grants and childcare.
• Enhancing existing programs so they work for businesses, such as the anti-racism grant, and leveraging the expertise of existing advisory committees.
• Looking at Business and Reconciliation, using the principles and approaches set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• Providing translation services for businesses.
• Facilitating workforce training and skills development for under-employed Edmontonians.
• Facilitating mentorship and expanding existing programs so they support people from equity-seeking communities

Changing the business narrative

I want to build a city where business owners are successful, at least in part, because of the support and assistance of the City of Edmonton and the new Business Advocate Office. 

With hard work and the right supports, anyone with ambition and a plan should be able to make their mark with a business in our city.