After a summer marred by wildfires, evacuations, and a highway closure, many Slocan Valley businesses are facing significant financial struggles.
Five large out-of-control wildfires burned in the Slocan Valley simultaneously, resulting in the closure of Highway 6 and the evacuations of Silverton and Slocan as well as many rural properties. This resulted in many businesses losing most of their summer revenue.
"A great number of businesses aren't in a position to simply absorb the loss of sales, and they're struggling," said Ron Leblanc, the Slocan Valley economic development co-ordinator for Community Futures Central Kootenay.
CFCK is offering a low-interest loan program to Slocan Valley businesses along with a local rebate program, both aimed at helping with short-term cash flow.
"What our businesses need right now is cash in their pockets, basically in the till," Leblanc said. "This is the most direct way we can directly support them."
In a flyer insert in the Oct. 17 edition of the Valley Voice, readers will find a voucher for a free coffee, which they can take in to participating businesses in Winlaw, Slocan, Silverton and New Denver, any time before Nov. 30.
The assumption is that when customers buy the coffee they might also buy a muffin or have breakfast.
Leblanc is asking businesses to staple the receipt for any of those additional purchases to the returned voucher and keep it, to be collected later by Leblanc. At the end of November, CFCK will reimburse the business for the coffee purchases, funded by the Columbia Basin Trust.
Five dollars may not seem like much, but with over 4,000 vouchers distributed, combined with the extra spending, this amounts to "a sizable purse where we literally put cash in the hands of local storefront business owners," said Leblanc.
He said this offer is a tangible reminder to shop local. For the retailers, it's a good way to bring in new customers and encourage old ones to return.
Leblanc will carry out the collections and the reimbursements in person, on the spot at each business. There will be no online applications or waiting. Leblanc said he will also learn something from the stapled receipts.
"We'll have all these receipts that are linked to that free coffee, so we'll be able to assess, 'Hey, his $5 free coffee turned into a $20 purchase.'"
There will also be a retail version of this program, starting with a similar voucher in the Oct. 31 edition of the Valley Voice, valid until Dec. 31.
This coupon will give a $5 discount on a minimum $20 purchase at participating retailers, to be reimbursed in the same way. This will be valid only at participating businesses in Winlaw, Slocan, Silverton and New Denver.
CFCK is also offering businesses low-interest loans (prime plus one per cent) of up to $20,000, with payments deferred up to six months, also aimed at helping businesses recover from a full summer of lost business because of the wildfires.
Information on the loans program can be found at https://futures.bc.ca/business-recovery-loans/.
