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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - OCTOBER 2013
a model for northern development that
has worked in another province.
One of the initiatives we’ve re-
cently launched is the Chamber Ex-
ecutives of Manitoba Group. We had
noticed that the 63 Chambers we
represent didn’t have enough oppor-
tunities to liaise with each other. This
group will offer education, resources,
and networking support among man-
agers of Chambers of Commerce in the
province. We want to see what works
in local community chambers and ex-
amine the issues, and then offer sup-
port for solving those problems.
Ultimately, it’s about opening
lines of dialogue at the provincial level
and also allowing chambers to work
together and provide input that can
help all businesses across the province.
Additionally, as a provincial chamber
we are looking to strengthen our brand
which will ultimately help us on a na-
tional level.
One of the unique things that are
happening right now is that local com-
munities in Manitoba are establishing
new chambers that are regional. Those
local chambers have a relationship
with each other and it makes sense to
establish a regional group.
What are the industries in
Manitoba that are going see the most
growth over the next few years?
Transportation is a huge new op-
portunity. The other one is clean en-
ergy development.
In addition, tourism is an area
that could be boosted—there are lots of
opportunities to strengthen the tour-
ism industry and that is something
we’re working on with other prov-
inces. Tourism in Canada has been
dropping in recent years, unlike what’s
been happening in other countries. So
what we’re looking to do is shine a
light on the challenges for tourism: i.e.
the costs of doing travel within Cana-
da for, the challenge for international
visitors to come to Canada, and how
we market tourism to Canada.
We have tremendous things to
showcase and we don’t promote our
country enough—this is a key oppor-
tunity that we’re not taking advantage
of.
Key messages for businesses:
Why join a chamber of commerce?
Your local Chamber is a safety
net. When you come up against chal-
lenges and you don’t know who to
turn to as a business, the chamber
will be your first point of contact. If
you want to make sure that industry
changes and policy changes are good
for the business community, and you
want to have a say, become part of
your local chamber.
“
One of the unique things that are happening right now is
that local communities in Manitoba are establishing new
chambers that are regional. Those local chambers have a
relationship with each other and it makes sense to establish
a regional group.”
