JANUARY 2021
Chamber at a
Glance
In This Issue New Year. New You.
Advocacy Updates Meet a Member
Mark Your Calendars 01.08.21
First Friday Coffee
01.13.21
Chamber 101
01.26.21 Speaker Series with Jill Officer
NEW YEAR. NEW YOU.
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020 was a year unlike any other. By the time you read this, everything will have changed, again. We have watched for the past ten months as our local business community has pivoted, navigated, and forged forward through seemingly endless changes, codes, lockdowns and reopenings. All the rules and regulations from Public Health and all levels of government have told you what your business could not do. But what our business community heard and what they chose to do was figure out what they could do. Making changes to your business is no easy undertaking, but Brandon has demonstrated their fight to adapt to the ever-changing climate. The Chamber is proud to have assisted our members through these changes by providing information, resources, webinars and learning sessions, programs (ie. the Ecommerce program with Leech Printing or the Shop Local Guide) and by just being the communities go-to place for assistance – or even just a chat.
No matter what type of business you operate, the mindset to develop and use for your 2021 business strategy must come from a place of dedicated positivity. This “can-do” strategy must start with a list of what is possible. Whether it is transitioning to doing business online, revisiting your marketing strategy, researching new markets for potential expansion or diversification, or engaging with your customers personally to deepen your relationships.
"...the mindset to develop and use for your 2021 business strategy must come from a place of dedicated positivity." SPENCER DAY cont'd pg 4.
THE zone MEMBERSHIP
MEET A MEMBER
Bushel Plus Ag Products Box 20123 Brandon, MB R7A 6Y8 1-833-376-7726 (work) info@bushelplus.ca bushelplus.ca
STARS Air Ambulance Foundation
What exactly does your organization do? Simply put, STARS fights for life. Since we embarked on our first mission in 1985, we’ve been driven by the goal of providing people the vital care they need when they need it the most. Whether it’s offering hands-on training to rural medical providers or providing rapid, emergency medical transportation for the critically ill and injured, we operate 24/7 from our base in Winnipeg, anticipating and acting when people need our help. Learn more at stars.ca What is your favourite part of your job? Meeting the patients we fly is a highlight for everyone who works at STARS, especially the members of our air medical crew. If someone is flown by STARS, chances are it is one of the worst days of their life. To meet our former patients, our very important patients as we call them, and learn how they are doing is an emotional and inspiring experience. What is the most challenging part of your job? Our biggest challenge is building awareness of why STARS needs to fundraise. Although we receive much of our operational funding from the provincial government, for our long-term sustainability in Manitoba it is important we lessen our reliance on government. The support we receive from donors also helps us stay on the cutting edge of critical care and make innovations that improve the outcomes of the patients we care for.
Welcome New Members!
Clean Under Pressure 1025 12th Street Brandon, MB R7A 4N7 (204) 922-2092 (work) lucas@cleanunderpressure.ca cleanunderpressure.ca Hedley's Health Hut 61-1570 18th Street Brandon, MB R7A 5c5 (204) 596-0585 (work) hhb@wcgwave.ca healthhutbrandon.ca
What is a product or service your organization provides that people might not know about? STARS also has a mobile education program which provides training to rural physicians, nurses and paramedics. Our mobile education unit is a modified motorhome that allows our team to take the training on the road, meaning the medical professionals don’t have to travel and potentially leave their community short staffed. Thanks to our allies, STARS can offer this training at no cost. Why is your organization a member of the Chamber? We are fortunate to have several allies in Brandon and the Westman region. Our membership is a terrific way for us to strengthen our current relationships and network with the local business community as we build support of the life-saving services STARS provides to Manitobans.
Iron Ridge Contracting Trans-Canada Hwy Douglas, MB R0K 0K0 (204) 768-0135 (work) jenna2134@live.com ironridgecontracting.ca JMJ Tileworks 238 1st Avenue W Souris, MB R0K 2C0 (204) 730-0565 (work) info@jmjtileworks.ca jmjtileworks.ca Sobeys Brandon West 3409 Victoria Avenue Brandon, MB R7B 2L8 (204) 727-3443 (work) greg.gringras@sobeys.com
WL Buck & Associates 2510 Park Avenue Brandon, MB R7B 0S3 (204) 727-1022 (work) admin@wlbuck.com wlbuck.com
155-A W Hangar Rd | Winnipeg MB R3J 3Z1 (204) 786-4647 cmayer@stars.ca stars.ca
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CHAMBER AT A GLANCE | JANUARY 2021
BRANDON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
news
NEWS RELEASE | DECEMBER 10, 2020
THE CITY OF BRANDON NOW HAS SUBDIVISION APPROVAL AUTHORITY
CITY OF BRANDON & BRANDON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT Brandon, MB – The City of Brandon and the Brandon Chamber of Commerce are pleased to announce that the City of Brandon has subdivision approval authority. This means faster processing of subdivisions and the ability for the City of Brandon to be an autonomous planning authority from the former Brandon and Area Planning District.
The former partners of the Brandon & Area Planning District, the RM’s of Elton and Cornwallis, and the City of Brandon, worked collaboratively with Minister Squires and her team to establish a new structure for the District where the rural partners will continue providing services under the newly named Keystone Planning District (KPD), independent of the City of Brandon. This new structure will provide increased autonomy/processing efficiency for the KPD and the City of Brandon with inter-municipal planning facilitated through a new joint planning committee.
“As Manitoba’s second largest city, Brandon has grown its capabilities and capacities in terms of planning, development and engineering services,” said Mayor Rick Chrest. “By granting this new status to Brandon, the Province has acknowledged the professionalism of our Development Services team, which I’m very proud to see. We look forward to continuous improvement and streamlining processes to foster ongoing growth and development in our community.” “We are pleased with the announcement of subdivision authority,” said Spencer Day, the President of the Brandon Chamber of Commerce. “We have long advocated for the reduction of red tape, and for a city the size of Brandon, this is a step in the right direction. This is an example of success that can be achieved when the city and stakeholders work together.” -30-
Bill 7, The Planning Amendment Act to provide the City of Brandon Subdivision Authority, was given third reading and royal ascent (approved) by the province on December 3rd. The official document can be found at gov.mb.ca/legislature/business/op/42nd/3rd/ op_026.pdf.
For more information, contact:
The City of Brandon is now the only municipality outside of Winnipeg to have subdivision authority.
Spencer Day President The Brandon Chamber of Commerce 204-571-5340 president@brandonchamber.ca
The Brandon Chamber of Commerce was an active partner with the City of Brandon by leading a submission to the province supporting the amendment as a means to reduce processing time and “Red Tape” facing the development industry in the City of Brandon.
Ryan Nickel Director of Planning and Buildings Department City of Brandon 204-729-2124 r.nickel@brandon.ca
CHAMBER AT A GLANCE | JANUARY 2021
NOW ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS
BUSINESS ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
The Brandon Chamber of Commerce is excited to open the call for nominations for our 2021 Business Achievement Awards! Help us celebrate business success, innovation, leadership and contribution to our community! We encourage interested businesses to nominate themselves, or to nominate any qualified and deserving individual or business! Awards are presented at the Annual Awards Gala (typically held in March). Note: due to COVID the awards celebration has been moved to May 2021 to increase the likelihood that we can celebrate in person. Award Categories: Business Person of the Year Business Excellence (Large & Small) Outstanding New Business Community Impact Lifetime Business Builder Deadline for Nominations: January 29, 2021 Visit brandonchamber.ca for more info.
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cont'd from pg. 1 Chamber at a Glance is published twelve times per year by the Brandon Chamber of Commerce 1043 Rosser Avenue | Brandon, MB R7A 0L5 Phone: (204) 571-5340 | Fax: (204) 571-5347 info@brandonchamber.ca www.brandonchamber.ca BOARD OF DIRECTORS Spencer Day | President Progressive Westman Barry Cooper | Vice-President Heritage Co-op Tanya LaBuick | Secretary/Treasurer LaBuick & Co. Cathy Snelgrove | Past President Siere Laurie Brugger Century 21 Westman Realty Ltd. Andrea Epp Epp Law Office Chris Finley Mazergroup Ryan Jacobson Forbidden Flavours Roastery, Affordable Storage Brandon Meredyth Leech Leech Printing Ltd. Lois MacDonald Alternative Landscaping Ltd. Scott Norosky South End Lumber (1978) Ltd. Jaime Pugh MNP LLP.
Converting the way you operate your business can be very stressful, so when you feel yourself speeding things up, remember to pause. You can easily walk yourself or your people off a stress cliff by demanding too much or yourself or them. If you are focusing on the negative, you could be weakening the confidence you have left. I recently read a great article by former Chamber President, Cathy Snelgrove (Siere), whom noted the following: “Whether the glass is half full or half empty, we all really just want to know there is water. We can all take our fair share of bad, as long as we know that at some point good will return. We don’t need a whole lot, except in order to go on, we do need to have some hope. Even if it is in seeing it through the eyes of others.” By putting a deliberate focus on the positives in the world, you’re giving yourself and your business what it needs most today: the ability to positively power through and keep working as successfully as possible as we head into a new, very unpredictable year. As you may know, we are in the midst of budget season. Our Government Relations Committee took an opportunity to meet with the Brandon School Division administration and trustees ahead of the public consultation to better understand the proposed numbers and their challenges. With the impacts of Covid-19 looming over, I am sure this budget season will prove to be a challenge. In the next couple of weeks, we will next look to meet with the City of Brandon to discuss the upcoming City Budget. We appreciate how difficult it will be to balance the priorities of a diverse citizenry and both the short and long-term needs of our community, especially during a pandemic. 2020 brought a lot of wins for the advocacy work being done through the Chamber on behalf of the membership. Our Flexible Funding for Post-Secondary Institutions, which will allow for new freedoms at Manitoba’s post-secondary educational institutions. By providing incremental, unrestricted funding that can be used at the discretion of Manitoba Colleges for the purposes of single or short-term program offerings in response to identified labor market demand in support of economic growth. This is big news for our future generations. It allows our post-secondary institutions to quickly and effectively pivot and address training requirements for jobs needed right now by employers. Secondly, we are pleased our red tape reduction efforts and work with the City has led to the approval of Bill 7, which grants Brandon its own subdivision approval authority. Mayor Rick Chrest noted “By granting this new status to Brandon, the Province has acknowledged the professionalism of our Development Services team, which I’m very proud to see. We look forward to continuous improvement and streamlining processes to foster ongoing growth and development in our community.” Kudos to all our committees for their tireless efforts. There is so much going on, I could write a novel. I want to commend the Events Committee and staff for their continued work to bring informative, engaging, and entertaining content to the membership and beyond. Join us this month to hear from Jill Officer, Olympic Gold Medalist as she discusses how to plan for success in 2021 amid adversity. February, we will hear from a leading economist from the National Bank of Canada about the forecast of our economy at all levels. We will continue to host lighthearted networking sessions like our First Friday Coffees and hopefully another great Chef Inspired Happy Hour. Don’t miss out on these opportunities to stay connected with the community. We are truly #StrongerTogether.
Aida Tahhan Aida's Catering CHAMBER STAFF Carolynn Cancade General Manager
Spencer Day President The Brandon Chamber of Commerce
Erin Houck Events & Program Coordinator Alix Coucill Director of Member Relations Samantha Chapman Office Coordinator
Who We Are: The Brandon Chamber of Commerce is an independent, membership funded, non-profit organization that represents Brandon business from the grassroots level. Our Mission: To encourage growth in the Brandon community by fostering a progressive business environment, favourable to enhancing existing and attracting new business.