Good old-fashioned hard work brings Chamber to the top

BY KIRK STARRATT

The Advertiser

NovaNewsNow.com



The president of the Eastern Kings Chamber of Commerce (EKCC) says their organization is one of the top chambers of commerce in the Atlantic Provinces in terms of membership and it’s working hard to address challenges and concerns facing the local business community.

Greg Young, who made a presentation to Kings County council’s committee of the whole at the February session, said they are making an effort to improve links with local government bodies through initiatives such as presentations to councillors.

He said he was quite proud to meet recently with Atlantic Provinces Chamber of Commerce (APCC) president Bill Denyar, the former president of the EKCC. He was told the EKCC is one of the top organizations of its kind in Atlantic Canada in terms of membership. Young said it was a big endorsement of and a nod to the credibility of the EKCC for Denyar to be offered the new, paid position.

“It allowed me to step into this role,” Young said.

Over the past year, the EKCC’s advocacy committee has delved into several issues, including gas price regulation, Sunday shopping, business occupancy taxation and the twinning of Highway 101 to Coldbrook. An ad hoc committee put together the Kings Economic Summit last June, which Young called a great success.



National accreditation

Their finance and administration committee is exploring accreditation through the Canadian Chambers of Commerce. Young said this would be a stamp of approval indicating that the EKCC is one of the leading chambers of commerce in the country.

He said the marketing and communications committee is trying to improve various aspects of marketing the chamber. They’re producing a newsletter circulated to 1,500 businesses and it may be a positive reflection on the efforts of the committee that the last two EKCC events have sold out.

Young said their education committee is determining what the membership wants to learn. They’ve hosted a variety of guest speakers in addition to tackling other initiatives.

He said agriculture and agri-food are important topics in the Valley. The EKCC has been working around issues related to the closure of Canard Poultry and the struggling pork industry. He said they would bring an expert in agriculture to their September quarterly meeting.

Although it has yet to become an initiative of the EKCC, he said something would likely grow out of a desire to establish a buy local campaign to support Kings County farmers.

Young said the EKCC just held strategic planning sessions and, looking to the year ahead, they came up with seven goals on which to focus efforts, three of which have a public face. Those include the twinning of Highway 101, the establishment of a highway interchange in the vicinity of the Michelin plant, and determining the need for industrial space or increased capacity in local industrial parks.