Your Chamber in 2020
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Your Port McNeill & District Chamber of Commerce wants to wish you a successful and prosperous 2020. We know 2019 was a trying year for a number of reasons, and we have been doing lots of work behind the scenes for quite some time.
People want to know what the Chamber does, or can do for them. In a nutshell, we are a business network, we aim to further the interests of the businesses in our membership, and in turn improve the economy and community of our North Island Region. The three main pillars we, and most Chamber of Commerce’s hold, are Advocacy, Benefits for our membership, and Education. (Business covers all our membership from Standard Business Models to Not for Profit Organizations, Societies, and Home Based Businesses etc.)
Advocacy is seen in letters of support, lobbying government in Regional, Provincial, and Federal matters, and pulling measurable data to show the needs of our region. This is where most of our efforts were focused in 2019. This past year alone we have been a part of the Chinook Salmon survey, we have been bringing the need for housing to every level of government, and are now involved in pulling together with many other Chambers across BC to talk about the measurable impact the logging shut down is having on our people, businesses, and community. We have attended meetings with Federal, Provincial, and Municipal government and have brought the real struggles you have been facing to them in person, and advocating passionately on your behalf. Advocacy takes time, and is not something that we see quick results from often, but we take it very seriously.
Benefits for our Membership is an area we would like to highlight, and educate on more in the coming months and year. Port McNeill Chamber’s membership with BC Chamber provides you, our member, access to many benefits including Group Insurance Plans, Merchant Services, Fuel Discount Cards, Legal Advice, and more.
Education is providing our membership with access to Networking and the education services relatable to their businesses. We are very privileged to highlight the many courses Community Futures holds, as well as have access to innumerable web and in person courses through BC Chamber. If you have a specific need please bring it forward and we will see how we can fill it.
The Port McNeill & District Chamber of Commerce is small and growing, as well as the three main pillars above we strive to bring added value to our membership with Advertising, Networking Opportunities, and Events.
Advertising - this can look like a boost through our social media, and website exposure. A welcome with our monthly Gazette Ad, and a feature blog post that we share and promote. We host your Business image, description, and a clickable link on our website. It means that wherever we are we show you as part of our membership, most recently we were at Customer Appreciation Night in Port McNeill, and we had printouts of all our membership available and we spoke to many new products and services to the people who came to browse. Advertising is also driven by you. When you have a promotion, or seasonal offering, or just news you are able to contact us at portmcneillchamber@gmail.com or phone 250-230-9952 at any time and ask Jessica to put up the information on our outlets. We are open to any ideas you may have.
Networking is fun as well as productive. In the past we have held many “Member to Member” meetups which were always a big success. We are working on putting a list together and re-starting this activity to provide you with the ability to get together with our business network. When you host a Member to Member event you are given the opportunity to highlight your business and services to a broad audience. We work with you providing as much or little as you need, including a meeting space if needed. Your business is highlighted and there is a casual interactive atmosphere where attendees can mingle and get to know information from everyone present. It is both beneficial to attendees as well as the hosts. Information is power, and advertising is always a value.
Events The Port McNeill & District Chamber of Commerce is thrilled to provide some regular events for our Community. The Business Awards Gala, and the Golf Tournament are two of our long standing events that both our community and our membership enjoy greatly. We have exciting things in the work for this coming year 2020! We also love to hear ideas from our membership that we could either partner with or help grow. Thank you again for being a part of our exciting team! We look forward to bringing these to our membership and our region in 2020. Thank you for being a part of what makes our community a great place to live. Please reach out with a hello and any questions you may have. We are here for you. Make sure you feel the value we can bring.
Ways to get a hold of us are
Email: portmcneillchamber@gmail.com
Main Phone: 250-230-9952
Executive Director’s Phone: 250-230-3752
Our Website: www.portmcneill.net
