Lloydminster was ranked the number one Canadian entrepreneurial city by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business in 2014. It’s not surprising to discover theLloydminster Chamber of Commerce has 574 members at last count in August. There are many new potential retailers to come aboard and benefit from the chamber’s business advocacy activities and its networking programs and services for members. Phase 2 of the new Brentwood Commons mall is nearing completion with store grand openings happening almost weekly. The Lloyd Mall is also undergoing an expansion and renovation to add to the mix of retail. With the slowdown in the oil and gas sector, we asked chamber president John Winter, who owns Cooper Concrete, to assess the impact of the downturn on the chamber’s retail, commercial and industrial membership with the focus on retail.
Pipeline News: Would you say you have a healthy active membership of businesses in Lloydminster?
Winter:We have a really nice cross section of members. We have non-profit, retail, small business, oilfield and construction.
In Lloydminster, there are a lot of small businesses so that would take the cake the majority of it.
We have a very active chamber. A lot of people are very happy with the services the chamber provides. Behind our leader in Pat Tenney (executive director) we have a strong board and strong leadership there.
Being bi-provincial leaves a lot of unique situations for us.
PN: What’s behind the development of Brentwood Commons and renovations at Lloyd Mall at different locations along Highway 16?
Winter:The stats are speaking for themselves. There’s the downturn in the oil right now, but a lot of these investors are pretty rich people and they are looking long-term.
They don’t think this is going to affect Lloyd for a long time.
The number Lloyd puts up (consumer spending) is somewhere near double Saskatoon and Edmonton for the average price people are paying at food stores and stuff.
They’re thinking long term so it’s good to see that people are still investing in Lloydminster.
Ed. Note: According to statistics from the Lloydminster Economic Development Corporation, the city has a population of 31,377 with a growth rate of 15 per cent from 2011 to 2015. The median household income is $86,110.
PN: What do you think of the mix of new retail at Brentwood Commons?
Winter:It’s exciting. They are kind of taking a copy of some other places like Stonebridge Mall in Saskatoon and Camrose (Commons) and some other areas where they’ve seen some success.
It’s new to Lloyd and there are a lot of new exciting places.
PN: Are you surprised by all of the retail development given there is a downturn in oil and gas economy?
Winter:Nothing surprises me in Lloydminster anymore. I’m a born and raised resident of Lloydminster, so I’ve seen a lot of changes in the town.
It’s very promising and good to see.
PN: What are retailers telling you about the downturn?
Winter:It depends what sector you are in or what industry you are in. Some people are saying they haven’t felt a single thing this year and some people are just starving.
That’s another unique thing about Lloydminster – we’ve got agriculture; we’ve got oil; we’ve got entrepreneurs – we’ve got so many different types of business and business people.
It kind of depends what you’re in as to how you’re getting affected. Some people are looking for job fairs and some people are laying people off. It’s very unique.
PN: Are you sayings retail is not badly impacted by the downturn?
Winter:I wouldn’t lump retail all into “not affected.” It’s the same with the oilfield. Some oil companies have closed doors even and some are still going strong.
It depends even on what you’re doing in oil that can be affected, too.
I think everyone’s felt the hit. It’s just who can position themselves the best to come out of this strong.
PN: Are retailers telling you sales are down in this oil slowdown?
Winter:I think they’d be down in general. People are trying to do what they can with what they can.
If you’re like me personally in construction, we didn’t gear up with as many guys. We’re not working as many weekends. We’re still working very efficiently and we’re still very busy.
It may be not the full blown or full throttle like it has been in the past years, but I don’t know if I’d call it a recession that we’re in.
To me that word means kind of dirty thirties living on nothing type of thing. I’m at the lake right now and there’s people driving $100,000 boats all over the place.
It’s all doom and gloom as people say. It’s definitely making people think twice about things and maybe tightening the purse strings a little bit.
PN: Does the downturn mean there are a lot of retail bargains for consumers and more sales?
Winter:That’s probably the way it should be. You shouldn’t be able to ask whatever price you want and just expect to get it. A little bit of competition in town is a good thing.
People are always going to need food and clothes and vehicles.
PN: Are retailers having any problems hiring labour during the downturn in the energy sector?
Winter:I would say it more in the employers’ hands. The last half dozen years it was kind of in the employees’ hands where if they didn’t like the job, they could go down the street and get another job.
It’s more in the employers’ hands now where they have some stronger candidates coming in and more to choose from.
Some people are looking for employees and some people are laying them off.
PN: Are some laid off oil workers applying for retail jobs?
Winter:Some people are still holding out for the oil industry if that’s all they’ve ever done. There’s definitely more options for kids coming out of school. For people moving to Lloyd there is a lot of options.
PN: Why does Lloydminster rank so high as a place for entrepreneurs and new business each year?
Winter:It starts right at the schools here. They have a lot of opportunities for kids coming out of school. We have Lakeland College and you have high academics.
Holy Rosary (High School) just ranked the highest class grade average in 30 years so there are smart kids coming out school.
Their parents are doing well, they’re doing well, so there’s some money to spend there, and kids are following their dreams doing whatever they want to do – if they want to start a business.
With all the strong industries in town, a lot of people are moving to Lloyd as well. Entrepreneurship is a wonderful thing and it keeps middle size communities like ours strong.
PN: Is your own Cooper Concrete business busy during the downturn?
Winter:Yes, we are very busy. This is kind of our peak season right now, so we should be busy now. We definitely are seasonal compared to say January or February.
It’s been an interesting year though – different looks than the last five – not as predictable, but still lots of work coming in.
PN: What are the main types of work you are doing right now?
Winter:We do a little bit of everything. We do residential, commercial and industrial plus some oilfield stuff.
We don’t just focus on a certain industry. We kind of do a bit of everything so that’s kind of what we’re doing right now is a bit of everything.
PN: Are you looking forward to a slew of annual small business event coming up in October?
Winter:I’m very excited for October. The chamber business awards (Celebration of Excellence Oct. 22) is always a great time of the year to recognize all the outstanding businesses in town.
Small Business Week (Oct. 18 to 24) is the same thing. There are a lot of different things going on in the community for people to celebrate all the hard that we do throughout the year.
The Indigenous or I-Summit (Oct. 14-15) is gaining momentum as a cornerstone event for the community to unite the indigenous people with the Lloydminster business community.
The committee does a lot of work bringing in the top indigenous speakers. It’s a full day of workshops and different things. It’s pretty exciting.
PN: What is your main focus as president regarding advocacy and networking that the chamber does?
Winter:I’m focused on just kind of keeping that communication (about advocacy and networking) with our members. It’s kind of an education piece for some members to show them what we really do.
Some people don’t get the full benefit of what the chamber does – so listening to our members about what they need and letting them know what we offer so that they get maximize value out of their membership.
Especially for people that have been affected in this downturn this is a great time to kind of get that networking.
A lot of people didn’t have time or they were too busy or too committed to suppers or whatever.
But now, if you’re slower this is a great time to turn to the chamber and make more connections and gear yourself up for when things pick up.
