Brett Thoms
Shawville October 19, 2022
The Pontiac Chamber of Commerce held its first annual general meeting (AGM) since 2019 this past Wednesday at the Little Red Wagon Winery.
The meeting saw the overview of last year’s minutes, the selection of board members, the overview of the group’s financial situation and presentations.
The meeting was scheduled to have a speaker from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, however that person contracted covid, so the organizations had to improvise by doing an impromptu round table from all the business owners present.
“It was really fun,” said Jessice Forgues, the director general of the Pontiac Chamber of Commerce. “The questions kept continuing – one business person would nominate another business person to come up until . . .
everyone in the room had spoken and explained what it is that they do, what they love about the Pontiac and what they would say to future entrepreneurs. It just became a really nice roundtable of everybody sharing their experiences and what it is that they offer.”
Before the selection of new members it was announced that longtime member Larry Coleman would resign from his position on the board.
“We wish him a well deserved break, ‘’ said Forgues.
“Our board now has 10 members which is amazing, ‘’ said Forgues. “They are from all different backgrounds and experiences. So we’re really, really excited to see how this group is going to mix together.”
André Fortin was present at the AGM and spoke about the importance of entrepreneurship and the importance of buying local.
The AGM also detailed what’s to come in the next several months from the Chamber of Commerce.
“So we have a first aid training that’s coming up in November and it’s being offered in both French and English,” said Forgues. “Getting English speaking resources here has not necessarily always been the easiest thing to do. So the English course filled up instantly and people were thrilled to be able to have this service here.”
The English course is from Nov. 3 to Nov 4 while the French is from Nov. 5 to Nov 6 and are both approved by CNESST.
“We’re doing a webinar with the procurement department of the Government of Canada on Nov. 27. They’re going to be talking about debunking the myth that the government only buys from large companies and how small companies can apply to offer any types of goods or services to the government,” said Foruges.
“In December we have the Shop le Pontiac campaign for Christmas that’s going to come out. It’ll be the third version of this Shop le Pontiac campaign, which is really in itself like this own brand that the Chamber created in partnership with the SADC.
And finally we’ll be having our first ever black tie Gala on February 18. And it will be a fundraiser for the Chamber of Commerce.”
Forgues concluded that the evening was a success.
