Chamber News

Each week I wonder where to begin... and as we turn our backs to winter and look forward to warmer weather, the calendar begins to fill in quickly! Key dates are noted below and I hope you'll try to join us for an upcoming breakfast, mingle - or of course, the annual golf tournament!  

I also want to mention the release of ECOTB’s Local Labour Market Plan [Click Here] and the interesting discussions we had at their Thursday morning breakfast this week. The issues facing sourcing talent and retaining youth aren’t foreign to anyone – and I want to thank the overwhelming response I received to my message earlier this week regarding the Community Career Project. To summarize one person’s perspective, “we are encouraged to leave because there are few opportunities identified here for engaging careers” – and so this project not only proves timely but I believe it will set the basis for an ongoing conversation about local opportunity.

We also have a couple of elections coming soon (if you hadn't noticed) and the Chamber will continue to provide opportunities for you to get beyond the social media feeds and get to the real issues candidates should focus on if they hope to represent business and our community at Queen's Park or City Hall.

On May 16, we are hoping to schedule a lunch-time event with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce Policy Analyst - Andrew Thiele - who will take us through the "Vote for Prosperity" platform identified through consultation with chambers throughout the province. Each spring, chambers gather to discuss policy reform and recommendations and the OCC prepares a list of issues they lobby and advocate on our behalves at Queen's Park. We want to add a local flavour to this process and hope you'll come and join us to discuss what we need from our ridings at the provincial level.

On May 24, we will be hosting the Provincial Candidate's debate at the Empire Theatre for the Bay of Quinte riding.

Please stay tuned for more and never hesitate to reach out if you have an idea or comment about what we can do to help your business prosper!