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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Business solutions company Office Compliments is riding on a wave of small business growth in the city.

The downtown company, which has been in Yellowknife for more than 25 years, has doubled its staff in just six months, according to manager Judy Murdock, and is expanding its services to meet increased demand from the city's growing number of home-based and small businesses.

Business solutions company Office Compliments is expanding as more small businesses are opening and growing in the city. Pictured from left are administration assistant Jen Pilon, programs manager Donna McLeod, bookkeeping supervisor Nikki Zarr, and manager Judy Murdock. - Thandiwe Vela/NNSL photo

"As Yellowknife is growing, we're growing too, in order to provide what a busier Yellowknife needs," said Donna McLeod, who has recently come on board as the company's programs manager to introduce new business training courses.

In addition to its training department, the company has had to hire more multifaceted staff to fill the increased requests it is getting from the city's small businesses for bookkeeping, payroll, government reports, conference co-ordinating, word processing, training and telephone answering.

"Small businesses in Yellowknife are growing on a constant basis," Murdock said. "As they grow, they are needing more support."

The number of home-based and small businesses that have been licenced in the past year was not immediately available from the City of Yellowknife by press time, but Tim Doyle, executive director of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, said a wave of applications for small businesses is being caused by changes in the city's labour market.

"For too long people were focused on getting a government job, or getting a job at the big companies because it was easy to do that five to seven years ago," Doyle said.

"It's a little harder to do that now, and some people who have done that sort of think, 'Well, maybe I'd like to be my own boss as well.'

"So when you see somebody that's willing to put their own time and blood, sweat, and tears, so to speak, into creating their ideal work environment and doing the thing that they're passionate about, it's a good sign."

Small businesses make up to two-thirds of the chamber's core group of more than 400 members, which include small-, medium- and large- sized businesses, home-based businesses, and some government agencies.

The chamber has also seen the city's small businesses finding success and expanding, Doyle added.

"We're seeing some of the smaller, home-based businesses taking a leap of faith and moving into some of the spaces that are opening up around town," he said.

Small business owners, who do not necessarily have all the expertise or staff required to run a company, are increasingly looking to business solutions companies for their administrative needs, he added.

"There's a lot of businesses here that just don't have the capacity to have a full-time staff on board, they're just not there yet," Doyle said.

"Every business needs that type of service. Bookkeeping and accounting is very important - you've got to be on top of what's coming in and out of your business."

An increased demand for administrative support has also been seen in JobsNorth postings, according to comparative statistics from the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment.

Between April 1 and June 30 of this year, 22 administrative support jobs were posted for Yellowknife, compared to 15 posted between April 1 and June 30 of last year.

Office Compliments now has a full-time staff of about 10, in addition to an estimated 40 people in its placement pool, which includes some seeking full-time work and others wanting temp work such as part-time students and stay-at-home moms, Murdoch said.

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