J.D. Potié
CAMPBELL’S BAY April 13, 2019
On April 18, around a dozen members of the Pontiac Chamber of Commerce convened at the MRC Pontiac offices in Campbell’s Bay to discuss the vision of the region’s economic growth.
The meeting began with a word of welcome from the Chamber’s president Mireille Alary acknowledging the presence of two special guests, Mario Guay from Pontiac Community Futures Development Corporation (SADC) and the MRC Pontiac’s economic development director Danielle Newman.
The committee followed by presenting the Chamber’s financial statements from March 31, 2019, which showed no irregularities and was approved without further discussion.
During the meeting, the committee voted to change two bylaw regulations, which were to reduce the minimum amount of board members needed to make quorum from eight to six, and to reduce the Chamber’s frequency of meetings from at least 10 times per year to whenever needed to keep business running smoothly.
According to Alary, the idea behind changing both bylaws comes from the difficulty of getting enough board members to put on at least 10 official meetings per year. With the long distances and busy schedules business-people have to navigate through to organize them, the small reduction makes a big difference, especially when a lot of what they cover can be taken care of by e-mail, Alary said.
“It’s all volunteer work and it’s very hard to get people involved for 10 meetings per year,” said Alary. “Plus, it’s always the same people at the meetings, they’re always here.”
MRC Pontiac Warden Jane Toller was in attendance and praised the motion dubbing it as a “a smart idea that makes perfect sense”.
Following the bylaw changes, Guay announced that the SADC will be hosting its annual job fair on April 25 at the Campbell’s Bay R.A.
According to Guay, business owners hoping to set up a kiosk at the event are out of luck, as all spaces are taken.
“There is no room left,” he said. “It’s a full house.”
MRC Economic Development Director Danielle Newman, was also invited as a special guest to speak about her vision for the region’s strategic economic development for the next 10 years.
During the presentation, she brought up three topics that she feels are significant to the region’s identity and economic growth, and asked board members to name things that are linked to them.
Newman chose the topics of industry, agriculture and tourism because of their significance to local business people.
“There are so many things that we could tackle,” said Newman. “But I thought that the group around the table would be most compelled by those three topics and also because they are some of our big ticket items.”
With board members providing a lively discussion and asking many questions during the presentation, Newman was glad to see such vibrant participation from the group.
“It’s good to see a lot of serious faces showing up,” she said. “People are really putting thought into their questions and answers.”
Newman followed her presentation by handing out short surveys to everyone present, requesting their input on what makes them proud to live and or work in the Pontiac and what economic avenues should be better exploited in order to maximize the region’s economic potential.
“I think knowing what makes them proud and knowing who we are in the Pontiac gives us an idea of the direction that we should be pushing or not pushing development,” said Newman. “People here are really keen to preserve nature. So, we need to make sure that the type of development we have doesn’t rupture nature. Or, if people want different kinds of jobs, maybe that’s something we should look at and start to consider a priority.”
The Pontiac Chamber of Commerce will host its annual general meeting at the Little Red Wagon Winery, in Clarendon, this coming June, Alary said.
