– Denny Warner is Executive Director of the Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. She can be reached at 250.656.3616 or execdir@peninsulachamber.ca.
SAANICH PENINSULA – Ours is an organization that is inherently in flux due to our communities being in transition, yearly election of board members, changes in office staff, and the varying levels of involvement and participation of members.
Change helps us grow and reveals our strengths and opportunities. It is essential that we check in periodically to ensure we are heading in a direction that continues to provide value to our members.
We recently undertook a strategic planning session that served to reinforce some of our assumptions and challenged others. The first step was to develop a vision and mission for our organization that our board and staff can hold up as a test or guide when considering future activities.
We then established four strategic priorities and continue to develop specific items within those categories. We also agreed on activities that we need to stop doing.
The process was useful to help us re-focus on who we represent and to whom we hold ourselves accountable. I am pleased to say the plan has already been very useful to me and to our board as we move away from the provision of visitor services and look towards using our organizational resources in the highest service of our members.
Going forward you will see evidence of our belief that a healthy business community is essential to a healthy community. We will continue to work to see the Saanich Peninsula recognized and respected as the best place to do business. But first and foremost, you will see us supporting, promoting, and advocating for member-businesses on the Saanich Peninsula.
