Some business owners ready to leave pandemic moves behind, says Carbonear’s EDO

By Olivia Bradbury / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Now that the pandemic is in the rear-view mirror, more home-based business operators appear to be interested in moving back into more traditional commercial locations. That’s according to the Town of Carbonear’s economic development and tourism officer, Kerri Abbott, who presented her regular report to council at a public council meeting last month.
During the pandemic, Carbonear saw an uptick in home-based businesses, said Abbott, as many small business operators moved from public locations in the community to become home-based. Now, that trend is reversing. Abbott is seeing more startup home-based businesses established.
“Just a reminder to people that a home-based business still has to get a business permit from the Town of Carbonear,” said Abbott.
The Town has been contacting some of the home-based business operators who do not yet have a permit.
Abbott said Carbonear has been working with other towns in the Trinity-Conception region to explore the possibility of creating a business network. They are also branching out with different groups like Econext to offer businesses extra training and assessments.
When it comes to promotion, Abbott said Carbonear has been branching out via non-traditional methods. One of these is YOLO Nomads, a website that allows smaller communities to advertise themselves and show what they have to offer. People can peruse a town’s YOLO Nomads pages in search of anything they might be looking for.
“If someone is looking to start up a business and is looking for a specific location, demographic, or if they’re also looking for a specific job, or maybe they just want to move here and work remotely for their company, YOLO actually collects their contact information and sends it to me and I reach out,” Abbott said.
Some people have moved to Carbonear as a result of the YOLO Nomads page, said Abbott. The Town also promotes itself through Google Ads, as well as through social media.
Abbott said that through the use of various promotion campaigns, she has learned what does not work as well as what people enjoy. The Town is going to continue with its current branding, she said, but will develop some different things in the next six months.