SOOKE – As our Chamber’s AGM (December 16th at 6 pm) and the end of my term as the Sooke Region Chamber of Commerce President approach, I’ve found myself not only reflecting on our accomplishments over past year and but also looking ahead to what remains to be done by our next President and Board of Directors.
Certainly, the current Board has been among the most committed and insightful our Chamber has ever had in its 68-year history. This group of dedicated volunteers from Sooke’s business community has donated over 150 hours per month towards a long list of initiatives we identified earlier this year.
We have enjoyed some key successes in 2015 and have seen our hard work pay off in several important areas. Our efforts in workforce development over the past year, along with the other members of the Sooke Region Learning Collaborative, have resulted in new continuing education programmes being offered in Sooke on a variety of topics including business management and labour and employment law.
We are proud that fifty leaders in our community came together at our Economic Development Symposium in late September and identified key projects that Sooke needs to move forward and we are inspired to work hard to see these projects come to fruition. Our resident relocation programme and newcomers’ club has continued to grow and now has 70 members meeting monthly. We also hosted several very successful community events this past year.
Our Business Excellence Awards Gala was an incredible success and 10 outstanding businesses in our community were recognized. Our annual golf tournament and upcoming (November 29th at 5 pm) Santa Claus parade continue to attract large numbers of people and we have big plans for new events next year.
Of course, much remains to be accomplished in 2016. Without a doubt, economic development will remain a top priority for us.
– Sean Dyble is the President of the Sooke Region Chamber of Commerce and the owner of 120 West Management Consulting. He can be reached at 250-642-6112.
