Councillors Petrina Arnason, Angie Quaale, and Blair Whitmarsh joined board members of the Aldergrove Business Association, the Aldergrove Credit Union, Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce, RBC, and the BC Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training, as well as municipal staff. They walked business to business along the downtown corridor of Fraser Highway in Aldergrove during Small Business Month.

Business Walks are a tool used by various municipalities across British Columbia to find out directly from business owners what’s working, what’s not working, and how business can be improved.

Twenty-three people volunteered to be a part of the Walk team, forming seven groups that visited the majority of businesses along Fraser Highway, from 264 Street to 273 Street. The team distributed pamphlets of helpful information for small business to 59 businesses and interviewed 38 business owners and/or operators.

Participation in the Business Walk was completely voluntary and all business owners along the commercial corridor of Fraser Highway were asked ahead of time if they wanted to take part.

Participants interviewed largely identified similar positive attributes about doing business in Aldergrove. They like the sense of community, small town feel, location, customer loyalty, affordability, and business friendly municipality in which they do business.

A crew from the Township’s Public Works Department was on hand to conduct a physical assessment of the area’s public infrastructure. Several items were identified as needing improvement and they have been incorporated into the 2017 work program, including replacing or planting additional trees, repainting crosswalks, curbs and hydrants, as well as replacing several street bollards.

In 2016, a Business Walk took place in the community of Brookswood. To suggest a neighbourhood that could benefit from a Business Walk in the future, or to learn more about the findings from the Aldergrove Business Walk, email invest@tol.ca