NNSL (DEC 18/96) - The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Yellowknife.

With about two weeks left in the year, the number of business licences sold in the city is well ahead of last year's pace.

To mid December, 1,611 business licences were purchased from city hall, already an increase of 38 from last year.

In 1995, 1,573 licences were sold, up from 1,530 in 1994.

The majority of the difference comes from home-based businesses. On average, each month the number of home occupation licences outpaces the number of commercial licences almost two-to-one.

Part of the reason for the increase is likely due to the reductions in the territorial government's workforce, said Mayor Dave Lovell.

"A lot of people are going into consulting business and a lot of small businesses have started related to the diamond mines," he said.

And the uncertainty within government about more layoffs may also be playing a role, added Gabrielle Decorby, President of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce.

"It's not only Yellowknife," she said. "It's happening more and more across North America.

"Here it might have something to do with the economy. But that may be the driving force no matter where you look at it."

Another factor may be the size of the city, Lovell said.

"Yellowknife's at the point where money is spent two or three times before it goes south," he said. "That makes it possible to have a lot of small businesses."

While the move to home-based business seems well entrenched, it is a trend relatively new to Yellowknife.

"What made Yellowknife what it is, is high incomes -- be it from the government or the mines," Lovell said.

"I think we're getting a change in the demographics. People are going from their salary (employment) into the service sector."