Premier Christy Clark announced the benefits of the new BC Small Business Accord to businesses across the Thompson-Okanagan at a visit to Anodyne Electronics Manufacturing Corp. (AEM), a local success story in Kelowna.

"Today, B.C. is the most small-business-friendly jurisdiction in Canada. The BC Small Business Accord is about making sure it stays that way tomorrow," said Premier Clark. "Even as our economy changes, we are committed to ensuring small businesses have every chance to prosper."

The accord has six action items for the provincial government. The Province has taken initial steps toward addressing several of these, including providing incentives for local governments to demonstrate they are operating within the spirit of the accord, appointing a senior official to consult directly with small business owners, and developing a mobile trainers program to provide skills training and certification using existing equipment in colleges and industry. Ministries have been ordered to examine procurement policies to level the playing field to give small businesses equal opportunities to compete for government contracts.

"The B.C. Small Business Accord recognizes small business as a key driver of job creation and economic growth in B.C.," said Naomi Yamamoto, Minister of State for Small Business. "The document holds government accountable to meeting the needs of the small business community across the province."

The BC Small Business Accord is a living document and will evolve to meet the ongoing needs of small business. The provincial government will continue to engage small business owners and operators on Twitter through #BCBizChat or #SmallBizBC and through the BC Small Business Roundtable.

AEM is a small business success story. In the past 18 months, the company has increased its staff by over 30 per cent to 88 employees. The company is part of a booming small business region - between 2007 and 2011 the Thompson-Okanagan led the province in small business growth. In total, the region saw a net increase of over 3,500 small businesses during this period.

"We are pleased to have Premier Clark visit our facility and are honoured that she has selected Kelowna and AEM as the location to formally announce the accord in the Thompson-Okanagan region," said Dave Veitch, president of Anodyne Electronics Manufacturing Corp. "As a growing high-tech business, we are always looking for qualified staff and opportunities to help with reaching our customers, and the BC Small Business Accord makes it clear that these are also priorities for government."

Quick Facts:

• Small business is a key economic driver in B.C. with 98 per cent of all businesses being small businesses.

• The small business sector provides nearly 56 per cent of all private sector jobs, employs over one million people and generates 29 per cent of the provincial GDP.

• B.C. is the first government in Canada to enshrine in law the requirement to publish annual reports about regulatory reform, and have reduced regulatory requirements by over 42 per cent since 2001.

• B.C. was the only province to receive an "A" from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business in 2013 for cutting red tape.

Learn More:

To learn more about the BC Small Business Accord, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/smallbusinessaccord

To find out more about starting and growing a business in B.C., visit: www.gov.bc.ca/businessandinvesting

To find out more about the BC Small Business Roundtable, visit: www.smallbusinessroundtable.ca

To learn more about regulatory reform, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/regulatoryreform

To find out more about the BC Chamber of Commerce, visit: www.bcchamber.org

Contacts:

Ben Chin
Office of the Premier
250 588-3113

Media Relations
Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Responsible for Labour
250 387-2799

BACKGROUNDER

The BC Small Business Accord contains the following principles:

• Consider the needs and impacts of small businesses in policy and program decisions to enhance business certainty, access to qualified labour, access to capital and technology adoption.

• Foster a regulatory environment that small business can access, navigate and influence effectively and efficiently.

• Design provincial government programs and resources affecting small business so that they are well developed, accessible, properly funded and effectively communicated.

• Foster thoughtful collaboration among all levels of government, including First Nations.

• Deploy educational and training programs that are future-focused and aligned to meet the changing needs of small business and the labour talent it develops.

• Create long-term growth opportunities for small business through government procurement.

The BC Small Business Accord forum's action items for the provincial government are:

• Develop a Small Business Awareness Strategy.

• Encourage provincial/municipal collaboration in the adoption of the BC Small Business Accord Principles.

• Develop a Mobile Training Program for Remote Communities so they will be better able to access skills training and qualified labour.

• Reduce barriers to government's procurement process.

• Support an Integrated Small Business Mentoring Program.

• Support additional skills training.

The Province has already taken initial steps to address the action items, including the following:

• Provide incentive for local governments by establishing a $10,000 award for up to 20 municipalities that can best demonstrate they are operating within the spirit of the Accord principles.

• Appoint a senior official to consult directly with small business owners to identify barriers to accessing provincial government procurement opportunities, develop recommendations to remove those barriers and report back to government within six months.

• Develop a mobile trainers program under which trainers will travel to communities to provide skills training and certification using existing equipment in colleges and industry during times when that equipment is idle.

Contacts:

Ben Chin
Office of the Premier
250 588-3113

Media Relations
Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Responsible for Labour
250 387-2799

FACTSHEET

• Thompson- Okanagan accounts for 13.5 per cent (51,800) of the province's small businesses, higher than its 12 per cent share of the provincial population.

• Between 2007 and 2011, the Thompson-Okanagan region led the province in small business growth. The four-year growth rate for this region was 7.3 per cent, amounting to a net increase of 3,500 businesses.

• Between 2006 and 2011, the Thompson-Okanagan region saw a nine per cent increase in self-employment.

• The results of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) entrepreneurialism index in recent years show that self-employment has grown the fastest in the Thompson-Okanagan area.

• Of specific note was Kelowna, the largest city centre in the Thompson-Okanagan region, which was ranked 13th in the whole country by CFIB. The other Thompson-Okanagan cities in the index (Kamloops, Vernon and Penticton) also ranked in the top 40 in 2011.

• The presence of a large number of self-employed, high business start-up rates, high levels of success and optimism and supportive public policy are key components of what makes a successful entrepreneurial city.

• Between 2007 and 2011, the Thompson-Okanagan region saw a 5.3 per cent increase in high-tech businesses.

• The Mobile Business Licence program was launched by 17 communities in the Okanagan in 2007. Since then, Sicamous and the Central Okanagan Regional District have joined that group, which includes:

• Armstrong, Central Okanagan, Coldstream, Enderby, Kelowna, Keremeos, Lake Country, Village of Lumby, Oliver, Osoyoos, Peachland, Penticton, Princeton, Salmon Arm, Sicamous, Spallumcheen, Summerland, Vernon and West Kelowna.

• Kamloops is a two-time winner of the Small Business Roundtable's Most Small Business Friendly Community Award, which recognizes local initiatives that support small business.

Contacts:

Ben Chin
Office of the Premier
250 588-3113

Media Relations
Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Responsible for Labour
250 387-2799