Small Business Month

S M A L L B U S I N E S S M O N T H - S U P P L E M E N T T O T H E W I N N I P E G F R E E P R E S S - T H U R S D A Y , O C T O B E R 1 8 , 2 0 1 8 2 Lisa Dyck is concerned that the new trade deal between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico could have a serious impact on small farm operations like her family's Cornell Dairy Farm. Photos by Wayne Glowacki PERMANENT ODOUR ERADICATION AND SANITIZATION MANITOBA The Evolution of Odour Eradication and Disinfection • Combustible fires • Protein (cooking) fires • Electrical fires • Long term cigarette smoking (tobacco and cannabis) • Sewer backups • Pet and animal odours (including skunk) • Mould and mildew • Grow ops • Meth labs • Fatalities Quickly and economically removes odour caused by: Insurance Claims, Restoration Contractors, Property and Facility Managers, Private Homes REMOVES ODOUR! GUARANTEED!!! FIRE, SMOKE, MILDEW... ANY MAL-ODOUR Call for a FREE consultation and quote Dale Dublin | 204-771-4580 ddublin@biosweep.ca 1-888-426-1470 ext 55 Claims 24/7 www.biosweep.ca M any business owners let out a collective sigh of relief following the recent last-minute free trade deal between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, but some others are still holding their breath. Following marathon negotiations, trade representatives in Ottawa and Washington put the finishing touches to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, or USMCA, that updates the former North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The new deal is said to limit U.S. tariffs on certain products, including automobiles, and retain certain trade dispute resolution mechanisms that Ottawa had said were key to any agreement. While that is good news for many larger businesses, some smaller enterprises say they are concerned about the impact the deal could have on their operations. That's especially true among dairy producers who fear it will provide the U.S. with increased access to Canada's dairy market. That nervousness is being felt by Manitoba dairy farmers like William and Lisa Dyck. The husband and wife entrepreneurs own Cornell Dairy Farm in the town of Anola. The family- owned operation has been around for close to 60 years and employs a half dozen full and part- time employees. Lisa Dyck says all the talk opening up the Canadian market to U.S. dairy producers is worrisome for her and her husband. "It's a big concern," she says. "Imagine waking up tomorrow and we don't have a place to sell our milk. We're done. You can't just turn off the tap…and store your milk for a year like with other commodities." Dyck says such a scenario would be bad news not only for her and her husband, but also for many of the businesses they do business with. "It's a snowball effect and it could affect so many people down the road. We deal with a lot of businesses (in the region) that supply our farm with supplies. We try to do as much local business as we can," she says. Still, news of the new trilateral pact was welcomed by many businesses in Manitoba. It was feared that recent trade tensions between Canada and the U.S. could have translated into hundreds of millions of dollars in tariffs and lost revenue for companies based in this province. The head of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce (MCC) says that was true for not just larger businesses, but also numerous smaller, independently-owned ones. "From a Manitoba perspective when you look at the amount we export to the U.S. on an annual basis we're talking about $11 billion. The amount we import from the U.S. is in the neighbourhood of $17 billion," says MCC president and CEO Chuck Davidson "People typically think of the larger corporations that move goods and services across the border but this dispute (could have impacted) everyone from small manufacturers to retailers. It's problematic (for everyone)." Small businesses make up about 95 per cent of the 20,000 registered businesses in Manitoba and many of them rely on U.S. goods and services to conduct business. Davidson says any tariffs would have likely translated into higher costs for those businesses which would ultimately have been passed on to customers. While higher prices could pose a problem for many small businesses, a more immediate concern for many was how a trade war might create uncertainty and force them to put expansion plans on hold. "The biggest challenge we see with this (kind of situation) stems from the uncertainty," Davidson says. "That's the one thing business hates more than anything. It loves to live in certain times where it's got an understanding of what the competitive climate looks like. "This (kind of dispute) makes for a nervous business climate which is not conducive to growing a business and creating a thriving economy." The uncertainty created by the Canada-U.S. trade dispute also caused many small businesses to reexamine their supply chain in an attempt to mitigate any impending price increases, according to Davidson. "If their supply chain was reliant on U.S. product…they're starting to look at 'Do we need to start looking at a Canadian supplier?'," he says, adding that might ultimately be good news for some Canadian companies. Davidson says he's glad that cooler heads eventually prevailed. "No one is saying we shouldn't be looking to modernize NAFTA. I think with any agreement that's 25 years old there's an opportunity for review and to modernize," he says. "We just need to make sure it continues to work well and we continue to have strong economies on both sides of the border." ❚ CONCERNS REMAIN FOLLOWING TRADE DEAL MCC president Chuck Davidson. - Lisa Dyck, owner of Cornell Dairy Farm By Jim Timlick for the Free Press "It's a big concern. Imagine waking up tomorrow and we don't have a place to sell our milk. We're done. You can't just turn off the tap…and store your milk for a year like with other commodities."

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