 Kevin Staples President 2008-9 |
July/August 2008
I look
forward to the opportunity to represent the Greater Langley Chamber of
Commerce as Chair of the Board for the coming year. Congratulations to
the new Board of Directors that was elected at the AGM, and thank you
to those who have completed their terms. Your commitment of time, energy
and expertise has been greatly appreciated.
Over the past year we have accomplished a great deal but there is much
more work for us to do as your ‘Voice of Business’ in our
community, in the Province, and across Canada at the national level.
Ours is a very influential Chamber of Commerce that is often looked upon
by others in B.C. with great envy. The health of this Chamber is evidenced
by the number of members who were willing to put their name forward to
serve on the Board.
In preparation for our term, the Board of Directors will participate
in a day-long Planning Retreat to develop the program of work. The foundation
for our discussions at the Retreat will be the results of the Annual
Survey that you all received with the Annual Meeting Notice. The survey
requests your input and guidance with regards to issues and challenges
to business, and recommendations for programmes and events that you would
like us to present. If you haven’t already done so, I ask you to
please be sure to complete the survey and send it in to the Chamber Office
to ensure we have a good representation of the membership as a whole.
Since the Chamber parted with tourism promotion and visitor services,
we are working in partnership with Kwantlen University students to explore
development of a Business Resource Centre. Our goal is to utilize space
at the Chamber Office to provide information and referrals to developing
companies. We look forward to the students research and recommendations
to help us provide support to our members, and to encourage continued
investment in the local economy.
During this term I personally would like to see the Greater Langley Chamber
of Commerce increase our advocacy efforts on behalf of business. In the
past we have been successful at bringing issues to the forefront at the
provincial and national level. Recent examples of these advocacy efforts
are our resolutions passed by the provincial and national Chambers of
Commerce and presented to government concerning dredging of the Fraser
River, creation of a national integrated crime reduction strategy, retention
of fuel taxes in the Province they are collected, and extension of hours
and services at the Aldergrove Border Crossing to ease the movement of
goods, services and tourists.
We will endeavour to increase our advocacy efforts on behalf of business
in a timely manner. In order to do so, it is imperative that our members
communicate with us. To facilitate improved inter-action between the
Board and Membership we will regularly seek your input or direction by
conducting polls concerning specific issues at the monthly dinner meetings.
Included in the dinner meeting programme is a page entitled “The
Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce Values Your Opinion”. Through
this we are seeking your ideas or recommendations concerning programmes,
events or issues you would like the Board to address.
I look forward to working with the Board of Directors, Membership and
staff to continue to grow the Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce and
strengthen the Voice of Business.
Kevin Staples, President
2008-2009
| Greater
Langley Chamber of Commerce #1, 5761 Glover Road Langley, BC V3A 8M8 Phone: (604) 530-6656 Fax: (604) 530-7066 E-mail: chamber@langleychamber.com |