Red Deer climbed to sixth spot out of 100 Canadian cities in the Communities in Boom Top Entrepreneurial cities study. The study was released by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), and looks at a wide range of indicators for the small business and entrepreneur environment in cities with populations over 25,000.

“The City has improved in our ranking from past years,” said John Sennema, land and economic development manager. “This shows there is a strong, optimistic business community in Red Deer that thrives on independent, innovative entrepreneurs.”

The study measured the concentration of entrepreneurs, business start-up rates, optimistic perspectives, operational successes, and presence of supportive local government tax and regulatory policies.

Red Deer’s strongest rankings were in the policy category, which included local government tax balance, sensitivity to local business, local government regulations, and the cost of local government. Red Deer ranked in the top five for establishments per capita, with 6.8 independent businesses for every 100 people in this city.

“Red Deer’s entrepreneurial spirit is continually strengthening, and we will continue to be vigilant to ensure Red Deer’s business environment stays competitive and successful,” said Sennema.

CFIB uses Statistics Canada sources, as well as feedback from their 109,000 members across Canada. Cities are assessed in 14 core indicators which are then grouped into three categories – presence, perspective, and policy.

For full survey results, visit www.cfib-fcei.ca.

efawcett@reddeerexpress.com