From Manotick to Sparks Street, Orléans to Carp Village, Ottawa’s commercial main streets all have one economic development secret in common, a Business Improvement Area. These 18 placemaking organizations and their 6400 business members employ nearly 130,000 Ottawa residents and generate approximately $150,000,000 in commercial property tax revenues for the City annually.
Best of all, Business Improvement Areas in Ottawa generate an additional $8 million in annual economic development funds across the 18 commercial main streets. These funds, collected above and beyond commercial property taxes, are paid by BIA member businesses and property owners to create marketing and promotional campaigns for the BIA businesses, to enable the hosting and sponsorship of events for local communities, and provide a key small business collaboration tool to the city through the local boards of management.
“Business Improvement Areas are a Made-in-Ontario export now operating in more than 3000 cities around the world and are a vital economic development and business community support mechanism in Barrhaven and across Ottawa,” said Andrea Steenbakkers, Acting Chair of the Ottawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas, and Executive Director of the Barrhaven Business Improvement Area. “On August 6, we’re proud to celebrate OCOBIA’s role as an advocate for the BIA model, as a resource to the 18 BIAs and their member business, and as a partner in Ottawa’s economic development landscape.”
The Ottawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas (OCOBIA) celebrates its fifth anniversary as an incorporated non-profit on August 6. OCOBIA was created as a vision of dedicated local BIA leaders and with support from economic development staff at City Hall. Over a five-year period, the organization has been able advocate for support to address the challenges of brick-and-mortar businesses posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, distributed funding to offset the impacts of business closures during the convoy protests, and has provided local BIAs a Digital Main Street partner. In addition, the organization provides valuable support and resources for BIA boards to leverage governance best practices in their vital roles making Ottawa the best place to live, work, shop, and grow a small business.
“Business Improvement Areas support local member businesses and property owners with placemaking and beautification efforts that have created the 18 unique neighbourhoods where they exist across rural, suburban, and urban Ottawa.” said Brad Fougere, Executive Director of OCOBIA. “As a key economic development partner in the City of Ottawa, OCOBIA is proud of our unique collective contribution and of our collaborative relationships with Invest Ottawa, Ottawa Tourism, the Ottawa Board of Trade, and across Ottawa’s blossoming cultural economy.”
As OCOBIA celebrates its fifth anniversary, member businesses of the 18 Ottawa BIAs, partners in the economic development landscape, and residents whose daily routines take place across Ottawa’s main streets are invited to share their favourite BIA spaces on social media with the hashtag #OCOBIA5.
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About OCOBIA
The Ottawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas (OCOBIA) is a member-driven, non-profit dedicated to supporting and promoting the BIA model of economic development.
Collectively representing rural, suburban, and urban Ottawa Business Improvement Areas and their more than 6,400 businesses, OCOBIA is committed to developing vibrant communities around its BIAs in support of making Ottawa the best place to live, work, play, invest, and grow a small business.