Chamber Chatter 2014 Year In Review                       Issue 041


PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

2014 has been an exciting year and I have been honoured to serve as the Prince George Chamber of Commerce President. I have enjoyed working with the eclectic board of directors and the talented staff in supporting our business community.  I look forward to the Prince George Chamber of Commerce celebrating the 100th anniversary of our city of Prince George and the Canada Winter Games.  Hope to see you there!!!


Ranjit Gill

CEO'S MESSAGE

It has been a pleasure and a privilege to have spent the past year working to help the business community find success.  2014 was my first full year as Chamber CEO - and what a tremendous learning opportunity it presented.  Thank you to an engaged and supportive Board, a dedicated and talented staff, and a driven and communicative business community.  Having passed the initial "learning the ropes" phase, I now look forward to diving into all that 2015 will bring!

 

Christie Ray



DID YOU KNOW...  The Chamber's Annual General Meeting allows members in good standing to exercise their right to vote for representatives to serve on the Board of Directors. The next Annual General Meeting is scheduled for March 26th, 2015 and nominations are currently being accepted for new potential Directors. If you're interested in joining the team, please contact CEO Christie Ray at 250.562.2454


2014 AGM 

On March 5, 2014 the Prince George Chamber of Commerce held their Annual General Meeting at the Ramada Hotel. Chamber members in good standing were invited to our Annual General Meeting to exercise their right to vote for the representative(s) that they wished to address business matters in the coming year. Newly elected to the board were: Clint Dahl, Dan Ryan, Vincent Prince and Reza Akbari. Re-elected for another term was Lorna Wendling and Todd Bugge. Nathan Chiles joined the board following a vacancy a month later.
A resolution was put forward at the meeting to change the boundary of the Prince George Chamber of Commerce to 50 kilometres from the centre of Prince George as indicated on the map attached to the AGM package. This motion was carried. 
The audit report on the 2013 Financial statements was presented by Allison Beswick of RHB Schmitz de Grace. No questions, comments or concerns were raised and a motion was carried to accept the auditor's report provided.
The meeting ended with the swearing in of the 2014-2015 Prince George Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Congratulations!
Board: 
Directors- Bill Quinn, Clint Dahl, Dan Ryan, Dorothy Friesen, Nathan Chiles, Kara Biles, Lorna Wendling, Reza Akbari, Todd Bugge and Vincent Prince
Executives- VP Corey Naphtali, VP Cindi Pohl, VP Finance Bill Phillips, President Ranjit Gill and Past President Derek Dougherty.


Don't forget to save the date! Our 2015 Annual General Meeting is March 26, 2015

 

EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR...

The Chamber hosted a number of events and networking opportunities for its members throughout the year.The launch of the Top 40 Under 40 publication was celebrated with a party at UNBC. 
Chamber week was celebrated in February with free workshops for our members. 
The Chamber continued to host many of its annual events, such as large fundraisers, the Chamber Lunch Among the Trees and the Christmas Block Party. This year also saw the return of the Breakfast Leadership Sessions with Bill Quinn, Coffee Hour with the CEO and Business After 5. This was also the first year the Chamber took over hosting the Administrative Professionals Day Breakfast at the Civic Centre, which was very well received!

In May, the Chamber celebrated Mining Week with our Mineral Commodities luncheon at the Treasure Cove Casino with guest speaker Paul Jago, a copy of this presentation can still be found on the event page. The Chamber was proud to offer another free Digital Marketing workshop for our members at North 54 in July. Tai Kolenko, the Performance Marketing Advisor of the BC Interior for Yellow Pages Group, offered tips and insights on the web marketing world for clients. 
Our Speaker Series Luncheons showcased many engaging speakers, including: BC Minister of Natural Gas Development and Minister Responsible for Housing Rich Coleman, CEO of Vancouver Airport Authority Craig Richmond, President and CEO of the Prince Rupert Port Authority Don Krusel.

The Chamber would like to thank all the sponsors who continue to make these events possible. Thank you to all our members for attending. We strive to continue to offer relevant, timely and engaging content in our workshops. The input from our Membership Survey has provided a great pool of exciting options to choose from in the coming year. For more information on upcoming events please go to the events tab on our website.
 

CHAMBER PROJECTS 



March 2014 saw the completion of the 3 year LiveSmart BC Project funded by the Province of British Columbia. Managed by Project Manager and Business Energy Advisor, Sorin Pasca. In January of 2014, we reached a considerable milestone in business energy savings: a total of 1 Million kWh (kilowatt-hours) in electricity savings was realized among 70 regional businesses participating in the Province of B.C.'s LiveSmart BC: Small Business Program.


 
The Consider Prince George project was wrapped up in the summer of 2014. This innovative campaign was managed by Project Manager Christie Ray in its initial stages, then taken over by Project Manager Dana Walls when Christie moved to position of Chamber CEO. Consider Prince George was a community outreach campaign designed to recruit and retain skilled Canadian newcomers and their families. 
The Consider Prince George project was made possible by the Immigrant Employment Council of BC. Funding was provided by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia.


 

The Chamber of Commerce partnered with Prince George Air Improvement Roundtable Society and the Fraser Basin Council to bring our business community an awareness campaign. The project goal? To reduce our community carbon footprint... one step at a time. Managed by Project Manager Dana Walls this project brought the City of PG a 4-week awareness campaign and wrapped up in the summer of 2014.

   
Stay tuned for information on two new projects beginning in the New Year.
DID YOU KNOW...  During the 2014 calendar year more than 80 new members joined the Chamber of Commerce.


THE CHAMBER VISITS CHINA

31 people recently had the opportunity to travel to China on a tour hosted by the Prince George Chamber of Commerce. This trip was meant to expose the group to the history, culture, landmarks and people of China. The first information session for this amazing opportunity took place in March with a representative from Citslinc. International speaking about all aspects of the tour. With assistance from local travel agent Karren Moore of Carlson Wagonlit Travel & Cruises, Chamber staff continued to hold monthly information sessions for the general public and ultimately sent along 31 representatives from Prince George and surrounding area. The group included Chamber President, Ranjit Gill.

Photographer Pat Suter signed up for the trip because she wanted to see and experience the world, and thought the tour sounded exciting. She says it exceeded all expectations. Trip highlights for Suter included walking along the Great Wall, and seeing Shanghai at night, which she says, "everyone must see in their lifetime. The lights were spectacular; everything blinked and moved." Beyond the iconic sights, it was the people of China who left the strongest impression on Suter. "They were so friendly and welcoming. People were always coming up to us and thanking us for coming to their country," she says. She brought along several of her own postcards of photos she had taken of bears, Hixon Falls and the Prince George cutbanks. Suter says people were excited to receive these photos reflecting her home. We have posted an album on Facebook of Suter's images. Many of her pictures capture the memorable, beautiful people she encountered.

CHAMBER ANNUAL FUNDRAISERS

President's "Royal Masquerade" Gala
The Chamber of Commerce transported you back to an era of extravagance and royalty!  This year's President's Gala event, called "President's Royal Masquerade", was held on March 29, 2014 at the Coast Inn of the North. As the largest fundraiser of the year, Chamber members came together to celebrate the newly elected Board of Directors and welcome the incoming President. This event boasted a silent and live auction, photo booth, candy bar and a dance instruction.



KOPAR Administration Cosmic Golf Tournament
Who says you need to play golf under the sun?
This annual golf tournament was a great success. With a new player format of 6 golfer teams there was fun to be had when the sun went down and the course began to glow. Open to all skills levels, this "best ball" tournament is the perfect event for your employee engagment / team building activity. 
A big thank you to all those companies who contributed prizes or sponsored the event. This event is perfect for team building and laid back networking. The Chilako Meats / Westcana Electric team took home top honours and the coveted trophy for the year. 
Who will step up and challenge in 2015?



"Hockey Night In Prince George" - 2014 Business Excellence Awards
Business excellence in Prince George was celebrated in fine form at the Civic Centre on October 25. With host Gery Schubert as "Don Cherry" and special guest NHL alumni Kirk McLean the Chamber awarded winners in 11 eleven categories. New this year was the Hell Yeah Prince George Ambassador award, created with support of the HYPG Facebook group. This year boasted a record number of nominations and a tie for the winners in the Business of the Year category. 
Sponsorship plays a key role in allowing events like this to continue to take place. Cathy MacKay of EDI Environmental Dynamics, our Environmental Sustainability sponsor found great value in sponsorship "We were very pleased with how it was presented and honoured to be a part of this great event. I was particularly encouraged to see young, up-and-coming business folks of Prince George celebrated."
Planning for next year's event is already under way! Stay tuned for winner profiles from this year to appear monthly in our Chamber Chatter newsletters.


 
DID YOU KNOW...  the Chamber of Commerce won the 2014 Communications Award  in the 501+ Members category at the British Columbia Chamber Executives Conference in September. 
SHARRON'S RETIREMENT

In June the Chamber said it's final farewell to retiring Office Manager, Sharron Tozer. With approximately 12 years of service under her belt there were many current and past Directors and staff who made their way to the Chamber office on September 16th for her Retirement Party.

We wish Sharron all the best in retirement!!

 
2014 MOST POPULAR FACEBOOK POSTS

Here is a selection of our most popular posts of 2014:


COMMITTEES AT WORK

The Chamber of Commerce has three committees chaired by the support of Board members and driven by volunteers that carry out a lot of the objectives and goals set by the Board.

The Service Delivery Committee works diligently on the three large fundraisers, grants and programs. 

The Communications Committee and its Membership Task Force continue to work on the Chamber's communication strategy to encourage new members, retain current members and increase membership engagement. Having published their annual Membership Survey, you can expect this committee will be working hard to read through all the survey results and implement necessary changes to reflect some of the greatest needs and wants of our members.

The Advocacy Committee was put into high gear this year with Municipal Elections. In addition to the regular work, this committee does advocating for our members at the Municipal, Provincial and National levels where needed. The committee published their annual Advocacy Survey to determine the concerns of our business members and used this information to compile the material, and it put forward to the candidates running for city council, as well as the two mayoral candidates. The Chamber hosted the Council Candidates Forum and co-hosted the Mayoral Debate with the assistance of members of the Advocacy Committee.
DID YOU KNOW...  the Chamber issues Press Releases not only to promote and share achievements and successes, but also to state the Chamber's official position on various news topics making headlines and affecting business.  Our Media releases are posted on our website.
Welcome New Members:

North Central Local Government Association

Royal Canadian Legion #43

S.P. Northern Events & Consulting

Peter J. Hopwood MA, RCC

PG Balanced Bookkeeping

Accutech Bookkeeping, Consulting & Payroll Services

Industrial Scaffold Services L.P

Core Recruitment
Boreal Painting & Decorating Ltd.Celebrate Events by Jasmine
M. McPhail & Associates Inc.Prince Rupert Port Authority
Zenon EneryLatino Canadian Association of Northern BC
Marthe Collin Seamstress / ArtistStages Enterprise Ltd.
Prince George Agriculture & Historical AssociationBragg Construction Ltd.
FFR Glass ServicesCrestcom International 
R.F Binnie & AssociatesDave Hoskins, Chartered Accountant
Canadian Linen & Uniform ServicesThe Edge Communications
R.C Adams GlassRobert Daniel Lyons Law
Quesnel Air Quality RoundtableDavies Park Executive Search
ik-spres MediaPrecision Machinery
Bites of Bliss CakerySigma Tile
Minteko Munk Accounting Ltd.Saipem Canada
Micah YoderNorth Edge Ice Sports
Learning Difficulties Centre of BCAmerican Express
ACT Immigration & Business SolutionDunc's Plumbing & Heating
ProGraph SolutionsKootney Merchant Services
Dr. Olumuyiawa A. BamgbadeDL Vital Mix
Bel Canto Choirs AssociationHerold Engineering Ltd.
Prince George Air Improvement RoundtablePrince George Spruce Kings
Shear Illusion Hair SalonNorthern Vehicle Review 
JRJ Counselling Teresa Systems Inc.
ABC Fuel Tax Refunds Inc. Spa of the North
FocusNorth 54
Randy's Auto ServiceLee Smith Trucking
Penny & Keenleyside AppraisalsNorthern Lights Denture Clinic Ltd
Prince George Folkfest SocietyAdhawk Safety 
Top Drawer Yarn StudioCrossFit Dark Star
Roberts Forensic Accounting Services Inc.Versatile Management Accounting Services
Prince George & District Seniors Citizens Activity Centre SocietyThe Community Arts Council of Prince George and District
Gilchrist Financial Services BC Ltd.YAG Inc.
Nurse Next Door Prince GeorgeQurvy Queen
Harmony Office SystemsPacific Coastal Airlines
Two Rivers AudioWellesley Consulting Group (WCG)
Health Collaborative British ColumbiaMobile Diagnostics Inc. (MDI)
Barkerville Historic TownM&M Meat Shops Prince George
Sixto & Maricela GonzalezWilson Square Community Market Association 
Colour of GlassJayrod Consulting & Sales Ltd.

 
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