The future is looking bright for Okotoks' economy in 2016.

Shane Olson, the Town's economic development manager, says people are going into entrepreneurship as a way to diversify their career path.

Olson says he's seen a large amount of business licenses issued just two months deep into the year.

"We've had a look at our numbers as of February 10th and we've had about 45 new business licenses already issued in 2016," he says. "Fourteen of those are home-based businesses."

Many old and new empty spots in town are also starting to fill up.

"We've also had 10 new physically located businesses or storefront businesses of a commercial/industrial nature, some of the trends are in recreation and the health and wellness industry in particular," Olson says. "Interesting for us at this time is the number of real estate vacancies both in our downtown core and in our business parks that has been available for quite some time are actually filling right now and in some cases with multiple tenancies."

Olson is also reminding both old and new business owners not to hesitate when it comes to asking questions.

"If people are thinking about starting a business, perhaps they cant find financing from a traditional lender, we're aware of a number of sources in the community that could help fund their business plan and their feasibility analysis so they can certainly call economic development for those questions as well as marketing and real estate questions so we will help them find space using our contacts and networks."

Economic Development is located in the Municipal Centre and can be reached by calling 403-938-8052 or emailing ecdev@okotoks.ca.

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