A strong majority of businesses surveyed in the area of La Ronge, Sask., say this year's wildfires have impacted their viability.
That's the result of a survey conducted by the Keewatin Career Development Corp., in cooperation with the province's Ministry of Economy.
The survey, conducted from July 27 to Aug. 7, involved 51 out of a potential 219 businesses in La Ronge, Lac La Ronge Indian Band and Air Ronge.
More than 80 per cent of those surveyed were closed during the massive evacuation of the area and 48 per cent said the impact of the fires on their business was severe.
Randy Johns, CEO of the development corporation, said more than 90 per cent of the businesses reported the disruption affected their viability.
He admitted he was surprised, saying he thought there would be an impact but he didn't know it would be so drastic.
"I think the business community is pretty resilient and it will recover, but it hit them in some of the pocket books, some got behind in their work, some lost customers," said Johns.
In terms of long-term impacts, many businesses left comments saying that they've had to delay their grand openings or cancel plans to expand, and some are even considering selling the business altogether.
However, about 25 per cent of business responded that the fire would have no impact to their business plans.
Johns said the idea for the survey came from the development corporation's own experience of working while being evacuated.
"While we were still evacuated we were talking with different groups about what the impact of the fire and evacuation would be on the community in general. The impact on businesses was one of the topics that we started talking about," said Johns.
KCDC has provided the results along with recommendations to the ministry, the chamber of commerce, and to the leaders of the La Ronge-area communities.
Businesses indicated that their biggest need was for insurance services; either clarification on their policy or the availability of insurance rates after the fires.
"We'd be willing to help organize a session for businesses," said Johns.
(CKOM)
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