– Christine Petkau is Executive Director of the Summerland Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Summerland. She can be reached at cpetkau@summerlandchamber.com.
SUMMERLAND – On March 30th, members of the Summerland Chamber of Commerce met for the Annual General Meeting and the second Tourism Showcase at the Summerland Waterfront Resort.
Elected by acclamation for 2-year terms on the Board are: Erick Thompson of ET2media (returning Board member), Kari Harding of RSD Premium Apparel and Accessories, Nick Ibuki of Summerland Varieties Corporation, and Spencer Brown of Brown Benefits.
Board members with one year remaining on their current terms are Marion Christian of Sumac Ridge Estate Winery, Julian Scholefield of Okanagan Crush Pad and Colin Powell of IGA Summerland.
The Chamber’s 2017 Business Plan was presented to members at the AGM by Executive Director, Christine Petkau, who reviewed the three areas where the Chamber is active: Member Services, Business Retention, Expansion and Attraction and Tourism.
Within the area of Member Services the Chamber provides business advocacy on behalf of its membership and offers educational opportunities such as social media and marketing training. Members’ promotional benefits include the Annual Awards Gala, the Summerland Phone Directory, Business after Business events, monthly newsletters and articles in various publications.
In 2017 the Chamber will be creating an enhanced member communications strategy and planning new activities during small business week.
In the area of Business Retention, Expansion and Attraction the Chamber coordinates sector networking, the development of key partnerships and the promotion of Summerland as a place to do business. In 2016 the Chamber partnered with the District of Summerland to conduct business walks to engage members.
These were very well received and will be held again in fall of 2017. As well, a video/social media campaign was launched to encourage Summerland residents to shop locally.
The campaign was called #discoverhome and garnered more than 40,000 views on social media. In 2017 the Chamber has partnered with the District to launch a feasibility study in the area of agricultural business expansion.
Within the area of Tourism the Chamber operates the visitor centre, welcoming more than 12,000 guests at the Highway 97 location and an additional 2,000 at local markets. Along with coordinating the photography and writing the copy for the annual visitor guide, and promoting the community as a tourism destination, the Chamber also organizes Summerland’s Festival of Lights.
In 2016 the Chamber partnered with Penticton and Naramata to create and promote a regional bike festival called ‘Chain of Events’ that takes place through May and early June. In 2017 tourism stakeholders will be discussing the feasibility of implementing the MRDT (accommodation tax) in Summerland.