By Susan Allen
The Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce was thrilled to host the B.C. chamber’s annual general meeting May 23-25 in Nanaimo.
There were 190 registered delegates and speakers from all over B.C. during which could only be described as a fantastic week of policy debate, engaging speakers and, lucky for us, some of the best weather we have had to date.
We began with a golf tournament that was open to our members and delegates at Fairwinds Golf Course. The tournament gave us the opportunity to showcase our spectacular scenery and friendly chamber members. Everyone who attended the conference was amazed by the friendliness of our community, the incredible downtown area and facilities such as the Vancouver Island Conference Centre.
Over the course of the three-day conference, each chamber throughout the year submitted policies that were debated and either approved or rejected by the membership.
The Nanaimo chamber submitted two policies, the first on infrastructure (asset management). This policy encourages the provincial government to ensure funding is in place in a sustainable, consistent manner that accrues to our communities for infrastructure improvements and upgrades; provides financial support for our communities to report on the condition and replacement needs of infrastructure; and reviews alternative funding mechanisms and sources to provide revenue streams that do not place the entire burden on property tax.
The second policy addressed the barriers to succession planning. The recommendations were to expand the scope of the existing government-backed vendor financing programs so that existing or potential owners of small/medium enterprises (SMEs) may access funds to facilitate the various aspects of succession planning; offer succession planning tax credits for business owners who have created and fulfilled an SME succession; and expand the scope of existing small business financing programs to incorporate succession planning as a legitimate reason for business financing.
We also asked that a task force be created in partnership with business and government to develop and implement a program that will facilitate the efficient transition of SMEs through succession planning.
Both polices passed and will now be part of the B.C. Chamber Policy Resolution manual that will be sent to every MLA and the premier. The B.C. Chamber has a stellar record working with the provincial government to have our policies implemented.
For more information, please call 250-756-1191.
