2016 was a tough year economically for many businesses across Alberta, Cochrane included.

Mike Korman, Town of Cochrane, Manager of Economic Development, believes business is down roughly 20-30% on average and said there has been mixed reviews from retailers around Cochrane.

"Some people have done quite well; some restaurants and retail stores in certain areas, and some have not done well."

Korman said there are many factors as to why some businesses increased while others did not.

"Depending on how you marketed yourself was a big differentiator.  People who are showing their business front and centre probably did much better than those that just rode it out and didn't spend any money on promoting themselves. We heard that many places in the historic downtown did very well this year and much of that could have been the concerted effort to do some blind marketing throughout the year."

While the Town was not expecting the northwest corner of the Quarry to build out as fast as it did, Korman thinks some companies took advantage of lower building costs.

"Some of the bigger chains took advantage of lower construction dollars and built in 2016, to take advantage of a stronger economy in 2017."

Big projects will continue in Fireside as well, as construction is ongoing and development permits have been issued.

Korman is anticipating business to pick up in general in 2017; he shared that Cochrane will see some pretty major retailers open doors both on the restaurant and retail side within the year.

 

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