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driving the Brandon business commu-
nity.
How is the Chamber aligning
with other local Chambers and the
provincial Chamber to address issues
facing Manitoba businesses?
The Brandon Chamber of Com-
merce is a proud Member of the Mani-
toba Chambers of Commerce. This
provides the opportunity to be heard
by the Government of Manitoba
through a resolution system in addi-
tion to customized advocacy efforts
when there are regional issues. We are
also members of the Canadian Cham-
bers of Commerce which gives us ac-
cess and a voice on national issues as
well.
Can you give us a sense of some
anticipated milestones the Chamber
will achieve in 2013/2014?
There are a number of priorities
for the 2013/2014 year and we are al-
ready hard at work putting plans into
action.
These include a renewed focus on
Business Development and working
hard to ensure the business environ-
ment in Brandon is conducive to busi-
nesses wanting to expand their opera-
tions or develop new operations in our
area.
The revitalization of an Agricul-
tural Committee to identify issues and
opportunities in agriculture is impor-
tant—value-added agricultural manu-
facturing is key to growing our busi-
ness community.
The revitalization of our Work-
force Development Committee to iden-
tify the challenges and strengthen the
ties between education and business is
also critical. Finding skilled labour has
been identified as one of the top chal-
lenges for our business community.
Why is it so important that local
businesses join the Brandon Chamber?
The Brandon Chamber is the
voice for local business and is among
the strongest Chambers in Canada on
a per capita basis. Its’ long history and
professional reputation garners respect
and opens doors within the business
and government environments so that
when there are issues that threaten
business, that voice is heard loud and
clear.
The Brandon Chamber offers
many benefits that can be accessed de-
pending on your level of engagement
and what stage your business is in.
Programs are available that range from
Networking opportunities and com-
munity building to Mentorship, busi-
ness development and best practices.
The Chamber also has local partner-
ships and Affinity programs to support
“
buy local” commerce.
The Chamber is an organization
that cares about its’ Members and their
success. It is guided by a group of
your peers so it is constantly adapting
and changing to respond to Member-
ship needs.
There is an old saying “People
don’t care what you know unless they
know that you care”. We don’t take
our Membership relationships lightly;
they are the lifeblood of our organiza-
tion.
BRANDON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
