Powell River Chamber of Commerce has met for its annual general meeting and acclaimed its board of directors.
President Dave Formosa said as far as the board elections are concerned, he was very happy that all the members agreed to stay on or be acclaimed.
“We have a fabulous board, which pitches in and works,” said Formosa. “They come up with ideas to add to my years of experience and ideas. More ideas are coming out of the board than myself, which is great.
“We have a number of projects that we have done over the last few years and I’d like to report that we are in good shape. We are getting our membership built back up. We’ve managed to appear before city council two or three times. We keep an eye on what’s going on in that regard, provincially and locally.”
Formosa said the chamber is planning to have some more projects to add to the ones undertaken last year. One example would be getting seniors together in the community and having a get-together to see if they want to take on some work. He said seniors could help out chamber members and businesses that are struggling to find staff.
Another project is taking on the Blackberry Festival, along with the Rotary Club of Powell River, because the Marine Area Business Association wasn’t able to pull the festival off this year.
“If it’s not too onerous and keeps our members happy, and our members are part of these events, then we can look at participating in events like these,” said Formosa.
Formosa said the chamber is not too happy about city taxation levels. He said he spent 14 years in local government, so he wears some of that, but he believes there could have been more prudence in the 2024 budget.
“Taxes are hurting the members and there are a few things that can be done,” said Formosa. “We don’t have the luxury for some of the things we are taking on, in my view.”
Formosa said the chamber is fielding calls from people who are interested in establishing industry here, and the chamber is doing reach-out to bring businesses here.
One initiative that is upsetting for businesses is that they can no longer recycle industrial, commercial or institutional waste, said Formosa.
“They have to put their recycling in the garbage; that’s going backward,” said Formosa. “[Chamber manager] Sheilah Denholm, myself and a couple of our members are doing some work to get together with our provincial chamber and put some pressure on the provincial government to find out why this is happening. Maybe some political pressure might get this reversed.”
Formosa said it was a pleasure to have qathet Living publisher Isabelle Southcott in attendance at the annual general meeting. He said Southcott, who will be retiring from her position, has been a great chamber member and director.
“She’s been a community entrepreneur for many years, so we got to celebrate her at the annual general meeting, and that was a thrill,” said Formosa.
In terms of the directorship, Formosa and vice-president Lisanne English, from The English Group, will be serving the second year of their two-year terms. Chamber secretary Michelle Silvester, from First Credit Union, has been re-elected for a one-year term. Treasurer Nanette Kapitan, from Western Forest Products, has been re-elected for a two-year term.
Directors re-elected for one-year terms include Peter Harvey, from Sea Panda Productions, Paul Galinski, from Infinity Multimedia, and Paige Anderson, from Laszlo Tamasik Dance Academy and Royal LePage. Directors re-elected to two-year terms include Jeremy East, from Westview U-Vin U-Brew, Taran Brown, from Aero Powell River Services, and Kelly Keil, from the Peak.
Directors with one year remaining on their two-year terms include Matt Behan, from Royal LePage, and Katrina Sinclair, from Healthwise Benefits. Formosa said Sinclair gave a great presentation at the annual general meeting on extended benefits for businesses that need insurance for their employees.
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