Students from Coast Moutain College were on the streets yesterday (Monday) talking with business owners as part of the 2023 Smithers Business Walk.
The Business Walk concept started in 2012 to help collect information on how business is doing so local governments and organizations can develop plans and supports for local businesses.
Smithers Economic Development Officer Will George said this isn’t the first walk held in Smithers.
“We’ve had a few over the years in the community and hoping that this will be the largest one.”
About 40 volunteers participated, with half being Project Management and Business Administration students.
The students planned the walk as part of a final assignment in collaboration with the Town of Smithers.
Eugene Mendimuedo is a student in the Business Administration course and liked getting to connect with the local businesses.
“Being a participant and volunteer gave me an opportunity not only for building my career but also to know more about the businesses in Smithers.”
Instructor Anna Sterankova said she tries to provide her class with an opportunity to plan an event but doesn’t always get the chance to.
“For this event, it was great as students could do all the planning and see how the project starts, how it’s executed, and then also working on a final report to present.”
The other 20 volunteers were made up of local and provincial officials.
The Smithers Chamber planned business walks in 2015 and 2021, which Executive Director Sheena Miller said doesn’t compare to this year’s.
“[Yesterday’s] Business Walk is orchestrated from a way higher level as there is way more partners from across the region and we’re hoping to cover more businesses.”
She added the goal for this year is to gather responses from 100 businesses.
This was the first business walk Smithers Councillor Sam Raven attended and she enjoyed interacting and learning about the different business challenges.
“I’m really enjoying talking with the different sectors and industries and there’s challenges that I didn’t even know existed. I’m also looking forward to seeing what bridges the gap with everyone.”
Businesses that weren’t visited can fill out the survey on the Town of Smithers website until July 7th.
All information collected during the Business Walk will be kept confidential, with a final report including only aggregate data made available at the end of August.