The COVID-19 crisis has amplified the understanding of the key role that small and local businesses play in their communities and the B.C. economy. As the pandemic exposed the disparities in our economic system, it also highlighted the need for a “new normal”, an imperative to build back to a more just and equitable economy. As part of this effort, LOCO recognized the opportunity to help shape a vision for rebuilding the economy to focus on increasing local business resilience and a strong recovery for the sector. We set out to develop a framework based on key principles to support local business resilience and recovery, in the hopes of supporting local businesses in a more strategic way. The goal of this work is to start to define key principles, as a starting point for follow-on activities to promote, pilot, and implement solutions. They are by no means hard and fast rules; we hope that this is the beginning of an iterative process, informed by many. Download the framework.