– RJ Senko is a Vice-President at the Esquimalt Chamber and President of RJStrategies. He can be reached at 250-888-3534.
ESQUIMALT – Despite the absence of this column from these pages over the past few months, it has been a busy time for the Esquimalt Chamber Board.
By now most will be aware that your Board has been working closely with counterparts at the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce on an integration strategy. The time has come to put aside parochial views in favour of a more holistic approach to business development in our area.
As Esquimalt Mayor, Barb Desjardins, stated in our June 21, 2016 news release on this issue, “Local businesses are not bound by municipal boundaries so this process toward integration of our local Chambers will help provide a more cohesive approach to economic development and voice for business.” In the same release Victoria Mayor, Lisa Helps, added, “This integration proposal is consistent with the decision made last year by all regional Councils to combine our efforts on economic development”.
Your Board thanks both Mayors for their support and commits to continue to work with the local Councils to build on our already strong economic ties. But like every initiative undertaken by your Board the proposed integration of our two Chambers is not about politics but rather improving services to our members.
In that regard we believe that by integrating administrative services we can offer more and better services to our members, including: access to regular professional development opportunities; expanded connections and networking opportunities with business owners and leaders throughout Greater Victoria; and even greater influence on the local, regional, provincial and national level governments’ decision-making on business issues.
During the summer the Chamber Integration Committee will meet to develop specifics of the plan and hope to be in a position by the fall to hold detailed consultations with members in both Esquimalt and Victoria. In the meantime, members are encouraged to provide their comments through the Feedback section of the Esquimalt Chamber website (www.esquimaltchamber.ca) or by contacting the office (250.590.2125) or myself directly.
The integration proposal was also a highlight of our 2016 Annual General Meeting held June 29. In addition to that discussion, the members assembled also elected three new directors to the Board. Your Board welcomes newly elected directors Murray Boyce of Entertainment Unlimited, Kelly Darwin – Seriously Creative and Willow Thompson of Balanced Bookkeeping.
These three energetic and committed newcomers replace retiring directors Heather Greenlees of English Inn, Don Linge of Don Linge Law Group and Luis Abriz-Castillo of The Office. On behalf of all our members we thank Heather, Don and Luis for their hard work and commitment to business in Esquimalt and wish them all the very best.
While the AGM did see some changes to the Board, the core remains the same with Bill Lang of Apple Tree Restaurant returning as President, Barry Hobbis of Victoria Harbour Ferries and RJ Senko of BCLP/RJStrategies continuing as Vice-Presidents along with incumbent directors Meghan Major of Royal Bank and Stephanie Ritchie of Cooper Financial.
So your Board is now in place and we have a firm strategy for moving forward. Over the next few months we look forward to working with our members and the Greater Victoria Chamber to build an effective, integrated business organization to serve all our more than 1,600 members.
