Saskatoon sisters Jamille and Jacoba Taylor always knew they wanted to work together, and the COVID-19 pandemic presented that opportunity.
As a result of the novel coronavirus, Jamille, 28, lost her retail job. Jacoba, 26, is a personal trainer, but was out of work too.
“We were coming up with ideas before COVID, and we just thought it was perfect timing,” said Jacoba.
They came up with the idea for JJ’s Express Wash, a full-scale carwash equipped with a blast of light and colour, accompanied by scented soaps and a state-of-the art conveyor system for vehicles.
The operation now employs 27 people, including young people and people with disabilities, who also help attract millions of views on the carwash’s social media.
They also opened JJ’s Express Oil Change nearby.
The biggest pandemic entrepreneurship lesson Jamille said she’s learned is to be open-minded.
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“Things are going to change so fast. Parts are not going to come in. We had to change our designs, our supplies,” she said.
They are among the active businesses in Saskatoon right now that outnumber the businesses operating prior to the pandemic, according to findings from the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority (SREDA).
A snapshot of October, November and December 2021 shows, according to SREDA, that the city’s economy has recovered to 85.6 per cent of what it was prior to the pandemic. The findings are an improvement from 79.3% the prior quarter.
One of the biggest factors in the assessment has been Saskatoon’s improved unemployment rate. The city has also benefitted from strength in sectors like manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, along with technology and innovation, according to SREDA CEO Alex Fallon.
“We’ve also seen a bit of a rebound in the mining sector, with good prices for uranium and potash,” Fallon said.
Though Saskatchewan’s first Omicron case arrived in early December, Fallon said the findings were based primarily on a time when the variant hadn’t fully swept through the city.
“We could expect that this indicator goes down in the coming months,” Fallon said.
The analysis also found airport passenger traffic fell below the halfway to recovery mark. The hotel occupancy dropped too, and only seems to have gotten worse in January.
Jim Bence, CEO of Hospitality Saskatchewan, said hotels benefitted from the Crop Production Show held earlier this month, but the low occupancy rate has been “really difficult” — between 25 and 30 per cent.
Some large downtown hotels have monthly fixed costs between $200,000 and $250,000, Bence said in an interview.
“So when you run at that 30 per cent occupancy . . . man, you’re upside down. You’re losing money,” he said.
To conduct its assessment of the economy, SREDA relies on data from Statistics Canada, the Conference Board of Canada, the International Monetary Fund and industry associations.
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