We learned in May’s Small Business Pulse that BC’s hot sectors in 2011 were: real estate, finance and agriculture. This week we decided to delve a little deeper into these trends, and find out what it means for six BC communities.
Our research looked at medium sized communities, whose population was between 10,000 and 100,000. We discovered that although the communities followed the Province’s trend in popular sectors; the lead sector for each community differed. We outline our findings below:
Prince George
Of the communities researched, Prince George reported the greatest increase in small business locations in 2011. The community’s strongest sector was professional, scientific and technical service, which saw an additional 17 locations opening in 2011.
Types of business in the professional, scientific and technical service sector include: lawyers, accountants, architects, management and scientific consultants, designers, and ad agencies.
For Prince George, management and scientific consultants were the most common in this sector.
Penticton
Penticton registered the second greatest increase across the medium-sized communities of BC. Their strongest sector was finance and insurance, with 15 additional business locations opening in 2011.
Types of business in the finance and insurance sector include: banks and credit unions, investment and portfolio management companies, insurance brokers, mortgage brokers, and companies that provide financial intermediation such as venture capital businesses.
Penticton’s greatest increase was for portfolio managers and venture capital businesses.
Nanaimo
The third largest increase in number of small business locations came from Nanaimo. There, the real estate, rental, and leasing sector lead the way, reporting 14 more small business locations in 2011.
Businesses in the real estate, rental and leasing sector include: lease companies, real estate businesses, car rental outlets, and movie rental stores.
Commercial lease companies and real estate agents were the most common small business in this sector in Nanaimo.
Kamloops
Health care and social assistance businesses reported the greatest increase in Kamloops for 2011, with an additional 12 small business locations opening in 2011.
Types of businesses in this sector include doctors, dentists, alternate health care providers, family and child day-care services.
For Nanaimo the most popular businesses in this sector were doctors, dentists, and alternate health practitioners.
Campbell River
The accommodation and food sector lead the way in Campbell River with 12 new business locations opening in 2011.
Business types in this category include: hotels, motels, full and fast food restaurants, each of which were the most common business types for this sector in this community.
Cranbrook
The last community we looked at was Cranbrook, which reported 9 new small business locations in the professional, scientific, and technical services sector.
Businesses in this sector include: lawyers, accountants, architects, management and scientific consultants, designers, and ad agencies.
For Cranbrook their most popular businesses were lawyers, accountants, and engineers.