Each month in Chamber Connections, we take a closer look at our organizational progress and activities regarding our strategic brand pillars – here is an overall review of the previous months.
- Influence & Impact: The chamber’s policy and advocacy committees have met – a focus for the previous quarter has been our policy committee who helped prepare the chamber for the 2023 policy resolution debates at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce annual meeting and conference. Both of our submitted resolutions were approved by delegates – one regarding public transportation received 92% support and the other on healthcare credentials was approved by 96% of delegates.
Our Government Affairs Committee has focused on municipal government this fall in advance of our annual meeting with mayor and city council in early. We also helped coordinate a meeting for the business community with the Fredericton Police Force this month. Next, this committee will turn its attention to the upcoming provincial budget.
The issue of housing continues to be important for members and earlier this year we hosted a webinar with Mayor Rogers and Minister Green to discuss the province’s newly-launched housing strategy and how all levels of government play a role in solutions.
Other areas where we have been active over the past few months include: access to primary health care, childcare, cost of doing business, Employment Insurance, public transit, workforce, prompt payment, economic reconciliation, air access and more!
Surveys – We’ve recently surveyed our members regarding public transportation and overtime. Be sure to watch out for our annual advocacy survey coming out in the next month!
- Engaged Members / Image & Brand Awareness:
Chamber Re-Accreditation – The Fredericton Chamber of Commerce was one of the first
chambers to become an accredited chamber in 2005 through the Canadian Chamber of
Commerce and is the formal acknowledgment that chambers of commerce have successfully
been evaluated against rigorous national standards of policy, service and performance. We have submitted our renewal and wait for approval.
Advertising and Publications – We published our annual magazine in conjunction with our
Annual General Meeting in June to give members an update on what the chamber has been
working on over the past year. We’ve also advertised through radio, public transit, digital
media, and print. Our postcard anniversary initiative is well underway and we’ve started
celebrating members via social media through our “Member Monday” campaign.
Committees – Many of our member-populated committees have begun meeting and are contributing to the work of the chamber. We have committees for advocacy, events, communications and more!
Physician Recruitment – Our Physician Recruitment & Retention Committee hosted their two annual events since our last update. In July, we hosted the community’s medical residents at our welcome event at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and in October we held our physician appreciation event at the Delta by Marriott Fredericton. Both were well attended and well supported by members!
Recent Events – Our other recent events include our Business Excellence Awards in October, our monthly business after hours and a business succession panel discussion with Scotiabank.
- Fiscal Growth & Sustainability: Financial stability allows the Chamber to carry out its vision & mission and present goals. Financial integrity is assured through budget transparency. By establishing a sound financial basis, the Chamber maintains the capacity to produce initiatives that deliver member value. Our membership remains strong at over 1,000 members and our events are back in full post-pandemic.
With the recent announcement of CEO Krista’s Ross’ retirement, we have also successfully i mplemented our succession plan with Morgan Peters set to take over the role on Krista’s departure. Our search to find Morgan’s replacement as Policy and Communications Manager is now underway – check out our job ad with Chapman Group and share! Our Event Manager Judy Scheffler recently completed her probation period and is now a permanent employee!
Read more about our pillars here in our strategic plan.