Excitement is growing for those nominated in all the categories for our Community Excellence Awards Dinner coming up on April 12th at the Barclay. Dinner tickets are going fast, so if you are planning to come and support a nominee or to celebrate these excellent individuals and businesses and enjoy a great meal, please reserve your spot by calling our office or stop by the Visitor Centre. Speaking of awards, that very same evening over in Oceanside, the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board (VIREB) will be announcing the winners in their annual new building construction awards. The Chamber’s new high visibility Visitor Centre building has been nominated by Coast Realty in the institutional category. Here’s hoping it’s an all-around good evening for awards in the central island!
Up island - Campbell River way - they’ve lost a Catalyst Paper mill, gained a billion dollar hydro-electric dam up-grade, built a cruise ship dock but can’t attract a ship and gained a big expansion to their coal mine. We will hear first-hand how they are handling all this and what’s in their future when the CEO of their economic development office, Vic Goodman, addresses our next Networking Luncheon. This will take place at noon, Wednesday April 11th at the Best Western Barclay. This will be an interesting presentation because they have so much in common with Port Alberni – except for a lot of fish. This luncheon, as usual, is open to both members and non-members by reserving at 724 6535.
In May, the Chamber of Commerce holds our Annual General Meeting and election of officers to the board of directors. Any chamber members interested in working for the benefit of businesses in the valley should seriously consider standing for a director’s position. Meeting are monthly (not during the summer) and there are some specific committees you may be interested in, from Junior Achievement in our schools to our Business Committee. In addition to the election of officers, we will be bringing a couple of resolutions to the general membership regarding up-dating our constitution and by-laws as well as a requested membership dues increase of 3% effective January 2013. The event will take place in Chances Rimrock Gaming Centre’s ball room and reservations are required so we know how many mouths Vishal has to feed. To reserve call 724 6535.
Thought for the Week:
“We improve ourselves by victories over ourself. There must be contests, and you must win.” Edward Gibbon
FROM THE MANAGER’S DESK
SUBMITTED BY MIKE CARTER
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - ALBERNI VALLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE