News from the Prince George Chamber of Commerce

Issue # 117 | January 2, 2018

2017 Year In Review

Grab a coffee and take a few moments looking back at some of the Chamber highlights from this past year!

2017 CHAMBER ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

On Wednesday, April 5, 2017, the Prince George Chamber of Commerce held its Annual General Meeting at the Sandman Signature. Chamber members in good standing were invited to exercise their right to vote for the representative(s) that they wished to address business matters in the coming year.

Annual reports were provided and new directors were elected during the course of the meeting.

Executive:

President: Corey Naphtali, Partner, KPMG

Vice-President of Finance: Lorna Wendling, Senior Manager, Deloitte

Vice-President: Bill Quinn, President, NuStride Executive Coaching

Vice-President: Frankie Albano, Senior Manager, TBJ LLP

Past President: Cindi Pohl, Account Manager, Waste Management

Directors (new – 2 year term):

Kallie Smith, Executive Director, Prince George Aboriginal Business and Community Development Centre

Kiel Giddens, Community Relations Liaison, and Prince George Regional Office Lead, TransCanada Pipelines

Kyle Sampson, Manager of Northern BC, Pacific Western Brewing Company

Kara Biles, Manager, Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning, Canfor

Roberta Stewart, Lawyer/Partner, Heather Sadler Jenkins LLP

Ray Noonan, Senior Manager, Northern BC, Scotiabank (1 year term)

Directors (continuing):

Laurie Dillman, Owner, Go Team Business & People Development

Derek Dougherty, Assistant Vice President & Branch Manager, Canadian Western Bank

Daniel Weeks, President & Vice-Chancellor, UNBC

Paul Mercer, Commercial Account Manager, RBC

Chamber Annual Events

Business Development Forum

The BC Chamber and Prince George Chamber of Commerce hosted the 2nd Annual Business Development Forum at the Ramada Hotel. The Forum focused on creating more collaborative relationships with First Nations; our lunch keynote speaker, Ellis Ross, offered great insight into this particular topic. We also heard from Canadian Chamber CEO Perrin Beatty on the business climate in our region and across the country.

Don't miss this year's newly branded #TrueNorth Business Development Forum on Tuesday, January 16th at the Coast Inn of the North. Our speaker line up includes Dr. Mark Colgate, Jim Allworth, and the Honourable Brian Ralston and the Honourable Doug Donaldson as our joint lunch keynote speakers.

Administrative Professionals' Day Appreciation Breakfast

Presented by Mills SpeeDee, the Chamber once again hosted our Administrative Professionals' Day Appreciation Breakfast at Westwood Church. Those in attendance had a chance to win prizes, and learned about "Workplace Hot Buttons" (and how to manage them) from our keynote speaker, Christina Bianchini. Not only did our attendees leave with tools on how to identify and manage these "buttons" for greater productivity in the workplace, our presenting sponsor ensured that no one left empty handed; gift bags from Mills SpeeDee were provided to each admin professional in attendance.

Watch the upcoming newsletter for save the date information for this year's breakfast! This is a great opportunity to appreciate, celebrate, and thank your hardworking staff!

Business Excellence Awards

We invited guests to walk the red carpet at this year's Business Excellence Awards presented by Northland Auto Group. W e rolled out this year's BEA's in a new, theatre-style awards show at the Prince George Playhouse. We "Ditched the Dinner" while rubbing elbows with the finalists and the city's "A-List" business celebrities while enjoying tantalizing appetizers by one of Prince George's celebrity chefs during our famous cocktail hour.

Tim Bennett was crowned this year's Business Person of the Year, while Play Grounds Cafe was awarded Business of the Year.

NEW and EXCITING this year is the introduction of a year-round nomination form on the Chamber website! Now you can submit a nomination when it's convenient for you. But don't worry, we'll still have a final nomination drive prior to the cut off for the 2018 Business Excellence Awards

Lunch Among the Trees

One of the most popular events is our Lunch Among the Trees at the Festival of Trees. Sponsored by Northland Auto Group and RBC, attendees were treated to a turkey dinner with all the fixings surrounded by the sights and sounds of Christmas. RBC Olympian Will Crothers inspired the crowd with his keynote address and posed for photos.

In the spirit of giving we asked attendees to bring a donation of a non-perishable food item or toiletries for St. Vincent de Paul's, which gave them a chance to win a portable bluetooth speaker donated by Andre's Electronics.

Networking Opportunities Throughout The Year

Over the past year, the Chamber hosted a variety of events meant to connect members of the business community.

Speaker Series Luncheons for the year included a January event sponsored by IPS Deloitte where we learned more about how to protect our business from cyber threats. We also heard from BC Hydro: Investing in British Columbia's Future; the MLA Update: Balanced budget 2017; Conuma Coal Resources President Mark Bartkoski spoke at our Mining Week luncheon; Rio Tinto; and, we received an update on the City from Mayor Lyn Hall.

Business After 5 events continued to be a popular choice for businesses in early 2017. The Prince George Cougars, ITA, Blake Productions and RTOWN all hosted after hours networking events for our members.

The 2017 Workshop Series lineup included our popular Marketing 101. Attendees gained more insight and knowledge on social media, branding and marketing plans. The Connecting & Networking Workshop offered tools for members to gain comfort and confidence networking at events, tips for networking online through social media, and how to maximize your networking on a budget.

The Collaborations... Connecting Business to Campus held a variety of events over the course of 2017 that aimed to bridge the gap between businesses, CNC and UNBC.

Connecting and Networking Workshop

Marketing 101 Workshop

Rio Tinto Speaker Series Luncheon

DISCOVER INDIA FAMILIARIZATION TOUR

A group of 50 travellers departed for India on the Chamber's second familiarization tour. The 10 day tour included stops in Delhi, Agra, Bharatpur and Jaipur.

Throughout the tour the group visited the Taj Mahal in Agra, stayed in an old palace hotel in Bharatpur, interacted with monkey's at an abandoned temple in Jaipur, and gained a greater cultural understanding of India.

Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque

Agra Fort

Taj Mahal

Monkey Temple, Jaipur

Elephant Village

Greetings for a hot air balloon

CN'S CARBON REDUCTION PROJECT FOR BUSINESS

2017 has been an amazing year for CN’s Carbon Reduction Project for Business, mainly due to all of its supporters. UNBC continues to provide students with real business experience as the Carbon Management class provides FREE carbon footprint analyses to local volunteer businesses. This operational insight informs on how to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and reduce operational expenses.

This year we had successful carbon footprint analyses done by this class plus our Carbon Intern for: AMCO Wholesale, Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, Community Futures Fraser Fort George, Lithium One, Northern Lights Estate Winery, Powder King Mountain Resort, Prince George and District Community Arts Council (Studio 2880), Prince George Diaper Service, Stinger Welding. Thank you for volunteering.

We were able to celebrate at Duchess Park, part of National Tree Day, as we dedicated two trees and an educational plaque to carry on this legacy. We are very pleased that the Northern Lights Estate Winery continued the momentum of the project and became carbon neutral. Congratulations!

Please contact barbara.otter@pgchamber.bc.ca in order to participate in 2018.

This community based project received funding from:

CN, PICS, PGAIR and UNBC

COLLABORATIONS... CONNECTING BUSINESS TO CAMPUS

This project was developed in response to local businesses desire to further connect with campus. It encourages collaborative efforts between both of our post-secondary institutions and local business in Prince George. The Chamber led four events in 2017 to nourish this initiative: The Launch, Digital Technology, LifeSciences BC, and CNC’s Automotive and Heavy Mechanical Tour.

From left: Byron Hayashi (CNC’s Autobody Instructor), Peter Sia (Dealer Principle Northland Nissan) and Ken Rowell (CNC’s Automotive Service Instructor) at the CNC Automotive and Heavy Mechanical Tour.

From left: Bev Holmes (Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research), Lesley Esford (LifeSciences BC), David Llewellyn (STEMCELL Technologies), Sarah Gray (University of Northern British Columbia) and Robert Olson (BCCA Centre for the North) at the LifeSciences BC Event.