Kudos to City Council for choosing to carry on with the search for a replacement for retiring Museum Director, Jean McIntosh.Our Heritage Network has been developing nicely for the last couple of decades to the point where we are a model for other communities that realize  our heritage is our future. If it wasn’t for the professionalism and dedication of Jean McIntosh we wouldn’t be where we are. She found envelopes of grant funding and helped open many doors which seemed locked. She made sure that as the Heritage Network developed, it did so in a professional and first class way. That is why our product is as good as it is. We will miss Jean, and it will be important to come up with a strong candidate to replace her.
Council is currently in their budget deliberations and as I write, we are preparing to present to them in their chambers this evening. Just to enlighten everyone on what the Chamber’s relationship with the city is, we are a contractor of services to the city. Just like Bailey’s Electric contracts to do lighting for the city, the Chamber contracts to deliver visitor information services for our region. For 12 months of delivering visitor information services we receive an annual fee for service which amounts to 67% of Visitor Centre operations costs. Our situation is quite different from most other city-Chamber relationships in that we have provided the community with a $1.6 million building to provide those visitor services. We charge the city no rent or operations fees (mortgage, interest, water, hydro, insurance, garbage, maintenance etc.) other than the yearly contract amount. External tourism marketing is the mandate of a separate entity, Alberni Valley Tourism.
Looking into what’s bound to be a great 2013, the Chamber’s first Networking Luncheon will be at the Barclay Hotel on Wednesday, January 9th. Last luncheon we heard from the new Port CEO, Zoran Knezevic, and in January we will hear from the new Regional District administrator, Russell Dyson. The Regional District has gone through some changes and is taking on some exciting new projects and our business community should be informed. Reservations can be made by calling our office at 724 6535.
Remember to “Shop Alberni!”
Thought for the Week
“Wealth is the slave of a wise man. The master of a fool.” Seneca
FROM THE MANAGER’S DESK
SUBMITTED BY MIKE CARTER
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ALBERNI VALLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE