(Image Credit: CFJC News)

By Sydney Chisholm

east kamloops business improvement association

‘As just a single business, there’s not much we can do’; Valleyview businesses eager for new BIA

May 17, 2024 | 6:30 PM

KAMLOOPS– Tory Maltaise opened the Valleyview Bosley’s store a year ago, and since then, he’s seen a side of Valleyview he didn’t expect.

“When you’re spending, you know, eight, ten, 12 hours in the same location every single day, your eyes get opened to more of what’s happening in the immediate area,” Maltaise said.

Maltaise is on the board of directors for the East Kamloops Business Improvement Association, which was approved at a city council meeting earlier this week.

“I wanted to be part of it because I own a business in this area of town and safety for my staff and for customers to come in is paramount for me and creating a good shopping experience,” he explained.

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He’s not the only one who feels this way.

“I think it’s getting a little worse for wear,” said Christine Pidhirney, a stylist at the Edge Salon in Valleyview.

“There’s more transients, for sure. There’s a lot more traffic coming out this way as well. So I think it’s a lot busier. But yeah, we never expected to get broken into.”

Safety and security is one of the main issues that prompted the creation of the BIA.

“That’s part of our mandate, it’s one of the key things that we’ve been looking at since the very beginning,” Maltaise said.

“Safety is definitely a priority on the list as well as beautification of Valleyview and having streets, sidewalks in the area that are in good working condition.”

Pidhirney sees a united front as the only option left.

“As just a single business, there’s not much we can do,” she told CFJC News.

“We’ve put in cameras, we do the best we can do. But unless we all come together, it’s hard for everybody to do to keep everybody safe in their individual businesses.”

Manmeet Sra, owner of Papa Murphy’s in Valleyview hopes the BIA will lead to more advocacy for the area.

“If we have a BIA, the representative could go and represent the businesses, whereas business owners sometimes don’t get a chance to go to get out of the business and do all those legal stuff,” said Sra.

“By having the proper team in place from BIA could help us with the with the legalities, helping us talk to the city.”

A lack of public transportation is another big problem for Valleyview businesses.

The last bus leaves Valleyview around 8:50 p.m. on Sundays, resulting in problems with staffing and some businesses having to reduce their hours.

“That’s very limited, especially on Saturdays, Sundays,” said Sra.

“That goes to a point where we have to close the store at nine and we have to pay a taxi ride every Sunday to our employees because there’s no bus after 850.”

The East Kamloops BIA is still in it’s early stages. Its slated to be fully up and running in 2025.