(NOTE: THIS PAGE IS STILL BEING WRITTEN & EDITED -- A WORK IN PROGRESS)
I lived in Taipei, Taiwan for five years and one thing that struck me was how much easier it was there to be an small entrepreneur and/or run a local business. In Vancouver, people with good business ideas, who could be generating real economic opportunity for our local communities, have a nearly impossible task getting their businesses off the ground. Securing enough capital to cover start-up costs, fulfilling required permitting requirements, and paying their employees a living wage are next to impossible in a city with the highest housing costs to median income in North America. Fortunately, the time I spent in Taipei and Portland, Oregon (where I did my BA from 1992-1996) showed me that city government can do a lot to help encourage and build local small business. Some of the ideas I have that I think might help creative and hard-working Vancouverites are:
I lived in Taipei, Taiwan for five years and one thing that struck me was how much easier it was there to be an small entrepreneur and/or run a local business. In Vancouver, people with good business ideas, who could be generating real economic opportunity for our local communities, have a nearly impossible task getting their businesses off the ground. Securing enough capital to cover start-up costs, fulfilling required permitting requirements, and paying their employees a living wage are next to impossible in a city with the highest housing costs to median income in North America. Fortunately, the time I spent in Taipei and Portland, Oregon (where I did my BA from 1992-1996) showed me that city government can do a lot to help encourage and build local small business. Some of the ideas I have that I think might help creative and hard-working Vancouverites are:
- deal with permitting issues that interfere with local entrepreneurship and innovation, such as lengthy delays and restrictive zoning and licensing laws
- put industrial sewing machines and Foodsafe-certified kitchens in community centres for small-scale entrepreneurs to use to manufacture products for sale
- start an artisan cart program, similar to the food truck model, so that local people can get vending permits from the city allowing them to sell their manufactured goods to the public in designated areas
- support and expand tool lending banks so it's convenient for everyone to borrow what they need in their local neighbourhoods
- repair workshops to teach people the skills needed to repair consumer goods
- more zero-waste centres throughout the city, and encourage local entrepreneurs to find marketable reuse for the supply of post-consumer plastics, fabrics, and building materials collected
