Doing Business in Boom-Towns
Your Country Needs You Now
Across Canada, many small communities are experiencing booms in both people and activity, as their local economies expand in response to the growing extraction of natural resources . And, boy, do these towns need entrepreneurs!
Typically, when a small community is transformed into a bustling metropolis virtually overnight, support services can’t keep up with the spike in population. Boom-towns, often characterized by poor infrastructure, pricey housing, and a lack of stores and restaurants, are a great place for a savvy investor or entrepreneur to make a quick buck!
The Wealthy Wealthy West
Take Fort McMurray as an example. In a few short years, this northeastern Alberta town has changed from an isolated outpost into a hotspot for Canada’s oil industry. In fact, there is so much wealth here that manual workers with little experience often earn six figure salaries.
But labourers there have limited options for spending their hard-earned dollars. Besides burning a hole in their pocket at their local watering hole, buying a million-dollar home, or purchasing a fully-loaded truck, opportunities to spend frivolously are few and far between.
But that’s all about to change. Ron Taylor, the executive director of City Centre McMurray, is overseeing a $30 million project to develop Fort McMurray’s downtown core. His vision, to replace the low-rise buildings, gas stations and liquor stores in the city centre with condominiums, upscale retail outlets, office space and fancy restaurants, will definitely have residents and newcomers opening up their wallets. They’re even planning to build a Whole Foods supermarket!
So, for those business owners in the construction, retail or restaurant industries, now might be the time to strike in Fort McMurray. “As brilliant as business is for us here, our workers really have a need for more restaurants, clothing stores and entertainment venues,” said the President of Terrapro, an extractive industries services firm, Richard Kulhawe. With only one dry cleaners in this city of 80,000, Kulhawe has a point!
Boom towns aren’t limited to the oil sands. Across the country, from Prince Rupert, BC to Wabush, Newfoundland, and many places in between, the rush for resources is causing the rapid growth of many small towns. These boom-towns provide opportunities for many Canadians, and can be especially lucrative for entrepreneurs. In towns flush with cash – and where there are few places to spend it – the savvy entrepreneur could be rewarded handsomely for setting up shop. And with local boom-town governments investing heavily in infrastructure and town centres, now may be the best time to expand your business in these areas.
After all, people in Wabush are tired of waiting 21-days to get a single tire changed.
