[Dion]

Calgary sees blistering pace of business closures alongside boom in new startups

Calgary businesses are shutting down or moving at a record pace as a stagnant economy begins to exact a heavy toll, says the chamber of commerce.

According to third quarter numbers obtained by Postmedia, nearly 2,000 Calgary businesses closed their doors over the summer, with another 1,785 changing addresses over the same three-month period.

In the first nine months of 2016, more than 7,300 businesses have either shut down or moved, already easily surpassing numbers the Calgary Chamber of Commerce would see after a full year, said spokesman Scott Crockatt. The high water mark for closures and moves in Calgary tends to be around 6,000 Crockatt said, meaning the city’s business community is already in uncharted territory, with three months of data still to be tabulated.

“I see no signs, nothing to indicate this trend is changing,” Crockatt said.

Amber Ruddy with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said these are dire times for business owners, and those trying to weather the economic storm are also being forced to pony up more from all three orders of government.

“Generally speaking, the business climate is not good right now and businesses are facing a number of challenges,” she said, noting many are having to alter their balance sheets to meet minimum wage hikes, increasing corporate and property taxes, WCB premiums and Alberta’s looming carbon tax.

“When you layer everything on it becomes very difficult. People are looking for more hope, generally, from this government.”

According to the city, over the first nine months of the year some 6,176 new business licences have been taken out, giving some hope to business leaders.

“We’re seeing technical people like engineers who’ve gone into entirely different lines of work like brewing,” Crockatt said.

“The ones that are doing well have found some combination of more innovative products or new products altogether.”

However, even as business owners or those who’ve lost jobs in Alberta’s troubled economy look to reinvent themselves, Crockatt said the loss of established businesses, even when replaced with new opportunities, tends to fuel fewer jobs.

“Many of these businesses that are closing are long-standing with more jobs,” Crockatt said.

“The trend appears to be increasing, and that’s a concern.”

http://calgaryherald.com/business/lo...n-new-startups