Red carpet and not red tape is the message the Okotoks and District Chamber of Commerce is hoping to spread to entrepreneurs.

A survey has been created for members about their experience working with the Town of Okotoks as the Chamber works on developing a policy surrounding municipal red tape reduction for business start-up or expansion.

In a release, the Chamber defined red tape as "a term used today in a figurative sense to describe efforts to expedite decision making by large bureaucracies, such as government. Red Tape barriers can involve legislation, regulation fees, permits, licenses, paperwork, standards, processing times, guidelines, filing and certification requirements, reporting investigation, inspection and enforcement practices, and any procedures that affect the efficiency of government services for clients served. These clients include individuals, organizations and businesses."

Jayme Hall, Executive Director of the Okotoks and District Chamber of Commerce, says the goal is to let people know starting a business in Okotoks is easy.

"We're not going to the Town to say 'here's all the things you're doing wrong you need to fix immediately', it's saying 'here's some information we got to help you with the process of people starting businesses in Okotoks' ", he explains. "The community is only as strong as the businesses that are here. People are living here, working here, and starting businesses here, and we want to let people know that Okotoks is open for business."

Hall says they're in no rush to take their recommendations to council.

"This is a lot of information that we're processing right now when it comes to this and we want to make sure that we're coming up with really good recommendations for the Town of Okotoks, so there are some processes we have to go through with our own organization, like after the policy is written it has to be adopted and voted in by our Board of Directors. It has to make sense for the business community in Okotoks."

The Chamber's hope is to take their findings to Council in the fall.

The survey can be found by clicking here.

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