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 Chamber 3M – September 20, 2011
Welcome to our latest communication vehicle – the 3M!
Chamber Mid-Monthly Message
Congratulations to all those who participated in the recent Miles with the Giant Marathon.
Prosperity
Northwest
Last chance to register for this wonderful opportunity to gain insight and take away actionable ideas that will move you forward with greater success.
Your investment, including time, will be rewarded.
For registration form, email
maryann@tbchamber.ca
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After Business
Following the much anticipated success of Prosperity Northwest will be our first After Business event after the summer hiatus.
Sponsored by the Thunder Bay Community Foundation, this special event will be a great opportunity to catch up with your colleagues and friends from around the region on their summer activities and share what was learned during the informative sessions at Prosperity Northwest.
See you there! Bring a friend.
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Canadian Chamber AGM Round Up
From September 17 – 19, the Thunder Bay Chamber was effective at a very busy Canadian Chamber of Commerce AGM. Our 1st Vice Chair Ed Schmidtke attended, along with President Harold Wilson. In addition to speakers on coming economic trends and opportunities, there was a lengthy session on resolutions brought forward by Chambers across Canada. This year, Harold served as a co-Chair of the Ontario Chambers, and we were very pleased with the success of our efforts. There were over 60 resolutions debated, and included in those passed were specific measures to reduce red tape for small businesses, accelerating the Capital Cost Allowance on Computer Equipment, reducing costs for the aviation sector, and one of particular relevance to Thunder Bay, protecting trade on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway.
On Monday September 19, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and GE Canada released their commissioned report:
The Business Case for Investing in Canada’s Remote Communities. The report has been very positively received. It is great timing that have Elyse Allan, President of GE Canada and also now Past Chair of CCC in Thunder Bay September 21 for our Prosperity Northwest Forum, and the study will be part of her talk.
Perrin Beatty, President Canadian Chamber of Commerce with Ed Schmidtke, Board Director Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce
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Ontario Votes
 We are pleased to organize our 2011 Provincial Candidate Survey to help you in your decision this election. We would like to thank those who provided ideas for the questions, and apologize if yours were not used. With the need to keep the number of questions to a minimum, questions that were more social policy as opposed to business focussed were not chosen. However, there is great merit in your asking candidates specific questions on elementary education, health care and child welfare, and we encourage these issues and more be pursued. We look forward to publishing the candidates' responses by September 28, and receiving your feedback.
From your input we have drafted the following:
- The Government has increased Ontario’s minimum wage by 50% since 2003 to the current $10.25 an hour. What is your Party’s position on increasing the Minimum Wage over the next 4 years?
- What tangible steps would you and your Party take to address the cost and supply of energy for industrial, commercial and retail businesses in Northwestern Ontario over the next 4 years?
- Outline what specific changes you would make to best utilize Northwestern Ontario developed energy for industrial investment attraction to our region.
- The Chamber has consistently requested that the Government permanently allocate a minimum of 26 million cubic metres/year of fibre for utilization of existing mills and new entrants, even if it is not being used, and further that the Government make a commitment to conduct socio-economic impact assessments on any or all legislation, regulation and policies that could reduce the provincial fibre supply or reduce access to the landbase/natural resources. Would your Party commit to these measures, and if not, what would you specifically propose to invite new sustainable investment in the forestry sector?
- Given the need to comprehensively engage First nations in resource development initiatives, especially the Ring of Fire, what would your Party do differently to bring forward guidelines regarding negotiations and development to reduce the uncertainty for business to help them invest?
- Building infrastructure in the North will unlock resources. A critical issue is that the infrastructure required primarily runs north-south, while the contiguous protected zones such as for caribou run east-west. How will you expedite the approvals required to attract the private sector development?
- Development of Crown Land to attract investment in the North has been a promise unsuccessfully kept by all three main political parties over the past 20 years. What would your Party accomplishment with respect to Crown Land development within a four-year mandate?
- What does your party specifically plan to do to encourage an increase in skilled trades training and employment?
We plan to release the candidate answers and put them on our webpage
here for your perusal, so that you can make an informed decision on October 6th.
Job Skills for Long Term Employment
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Chamber Scholarship Recipients start school
In June the Chamber awarded 3 scholarships to high school students.
Good luck to:
- Kailey Trodd [Lakehead University Kinesiology]
- Brooke Barritt [Confederation College Business Accounting]
- Kaitlyn Hindman [Lakehead University Mathematics]
And good luck to all students who are starting off their academic pursuits!
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Small Business Week
October 16 – 22 has been set aside as the 2011 Small Business Week. For over 30 years BDC has organized Small Business Week® to pay tribute to Canadian entrepreneurs, creating opportunities for them to:
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Share success stories
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Talk to leading business experts
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Exchange innovative ideas
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Participate in events held across Canada
This year Thunder Bay will have several opportunities for businesses to “Power Up Your Business. Invest. Innovate and Grow!”
A calendar is currently being drafted up for your review.
The chamber is holding our After Business hosted by the Slovak Legion which includes our annual “New Member Reception”. We are very proud to provide for our members an exciting workshop on improving your selling technique. “L(earn)2 Sell Naturally”, presented by Doug Bolger on the morning of October 20th.
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Member 2 Member Discounts
Since the last 3M our latest addition to the member discount list is for Founder’s Museum.
Enjoy 20% off of rentals for the Slate River Community Hall
Just in time for your holiday party!
Finding the Member 2 Member discounts on our webpage has become even easier. Just type
www.tbchamber.ca/discounts
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SHIFT
Watch for the upcoming events heading out for all those SHIFT-ers out there.
October 20th: Westfort Business Crawl
November 3rd: 2nd Annual Wine Tasting Event for the United Way
Mark your calendars for SHIFT’s upcoming events!
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C3 - Chamber Community Calendar
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October 2011
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Sunday
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Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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Saturday
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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8
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Job Skills for Long Term Employment
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GET OUT AND VOTE
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9
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10
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11
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12
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13
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14
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15
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THANKSGIVING MONDAY
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Ireland Trip Information Session @ Valhalla
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RBC Ribbon Cutting
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Animkii Festival Begins @ CLE |
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16
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17
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18
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19
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20
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21
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22
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SMALL BUSINESS WEEK
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Animkii Festival Ends |
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Tactical Branding |
After Business
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New Member Reception
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L(earn)2 Sell Naturally
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24
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25
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26
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27
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28
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29
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Lowery's EXPO @ Valhalla Inn |
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30
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31
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