Nelson has been recognized with an award for being among BC’s most business friendly communities.
The award from the provincial Small Business Round Table was handed out to six communities that are working to enhance small business competitiveness, recognize the contributions of small businesses to the community and promote climate action plans that support small business.
Nelson Chamber of Commerce executive director Tom Thomson was pleased to see Nelson on the list of award recipients, noting the many organizations that work together to promote business opportunities in Nelson.
"Through our collaborative approach to economic development, as well as initiatives such as Invest Kootenay, it lets people know that the City of Nelson is open for business," Thomson said. "The City is working to make the process of starting up a business as easy as possible."
He added that the City has implemented recommendations to streamline the regulatory and at time consuming licensing and permitting applications through the adoption of the on line BizPal tool.
"We would like to see the City to continue to work towards implementing a mobile license, as well as other recommendations in the report compiled for the City as part of the application process," Thomson said.
"One issue we will continue to work with the City on is the need to continue to work on reducing business taxation for long term sustainability and support for businesses, building owners or developers that are looking at moving forward with upgrades to existing businesses, or new development to help us grow the tax base."
The five other communities that shared the title for most business-friendly with Nelson are Kamloops, Nanaimo, North Vancouver District, Prince George and Smithers.