The Guelph Chamber of Commerce recently attended the annual meeting of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, held this year in Newfoundland. Every year the conversation changes, with people from Baffin Island to Vancouver Island to Cape Breton Island all taking part. Surprisingly, there are some themes that are on the mind of all sizes of communities across our great land.
This year, many provinces and territories have been involved with many elections from coast to coast to coast. In Guelph, our Chamber of Commerce held 9 discussion forums in the past year with federal, municipal, and provincial candidates. That’s a lot of discussion. Voting has been a full time occupation for engaged citizens in Guelph and elsewhere. Many election topics were the same across Canada, and related to what type of communities we are helping to build.
Chambers provide non-partisan support or argue against policy rather than arguing politics. The over 300 delegates at this year’s Canadian Chamber AGM discussed and debated 62 federal policy resolutions from the 192,000 businesses we represent for the current sitting of parliament. What was on everyone’s mind this year was the question "How do we become more competitive in the world market?". Canada has a great education system, wonderful healthcare, an outstanding standard of living, and yet we have slipped to 20th in the OECD in GDP output per person. Lots of interpretations can be made by economists, but our discussions came to two conclusions:
1) We need to develop our workforce, including skilled trades and management, and
2) We need to embrace the use of technology with all sizes and types of businesses.
Locally, the Guelph Chamber of Commerce Workplace Development Committee, Industrial Committee, and Technology Committee are all discussing how to implement improvements in our workplace and in our use of technology. The GCC Program Committee is preparing events to present topics to help businesses to be aware of resources in our community to continuously improve. Membership Services ensures the Chamber represents a broad range of business sizes and types. Our Advocacy Committee prepares policy presentations to three levels of government. Over all, the Board of Directors sets the strategy for the Guelph business community.
Success is not an accident. It takes the work of an entire community to build on our strengths and provide support where needed. To join in to this national, provincial, and local effort you can become a member of the Guelph Chamber of Commerce. Please visit www.guelphchamber.com , under “Joining the Chamber” or call our office at 519-822-8081.
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