PENTICTON – The City of Penticton celebrated their growing and vibrant business community during national Small Business Week from Oct. 16-22.
Penticton is now home to 3,659 licenced businesses, which grew six per cent in the past year to Sept. 30, 2022. This follows a five-per-cent growth during the same time period from 2020-2021. The top five industries of employment include health care and social assistance (14.93 per cent), retail trade (14.9 per cent), accommodation and food services (11 per cent), construction (9 per cent) and manufacturing (6.7 per cent).
“We’re proud of our business community, which employs thousands of people and provides essential services for our residents. We’re growing, we’re attracting new businesses, and particularly with today’s global economy, big business is being conducted right here in Penticton,” said Anthony Haddad, General Manager of Community Services.
The Economic Development department has been focused on resident and labour attraction as one of the efforts to support post-pandemic recovery. This has also been a key priority of its five-year Economic Development Strategic Plan.
As part of the process to attract investment, the City is also focusing on increasing housing stock to meet the needs of all income levels. Currently, 520 residents units are under construction, 1,060 residential units are approved and 650 units are in the development application process.
By the Numbers
- 3,659 total active business licences as of Sept. 30, 2022 (compared with 3,458 same time last year).
- The Penticton & Wine Country Chamber of Commerce has 473 members, representing 7,750 employees. The 5 top sectors by percentage are industrial (12.1 per cent), community (9.9 per cent), legal & finance (9.1 per cent), food (7.4 per cent) and technology (7 per cent).
- The Downtown Penticton Business Improvement Association has approximately 600 members spanning a broad range of sectors, and representing an estimated 1,800-3,000 employees. The DPBIA acts a steward for businesses sited in the downtown core.
- 98 per cent of businesses in BC are self-employed or small businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
- There are more than 532,500 small businesses in BC (2020). Of these, 442,700 have fewer than four employees.
- Penticton’s population is 36,885, showing a 9.3-per-cent increase over the previous five years.
Sources: BC Small Business Profile 2021, City of Penticton, 2021 Census Canada, Penticton & Wine Country Chamber of Commerce