November 5, 2007

The Brockville and District Chamber of Commerce mission is to foster a competitive business environment that benefits the people of this region through the growth of jobs, wealth and quality of life.  We accomplish this mandate by representing the interests of the business community and advocating for taxation, regulations and decisions that make business thrive.  The Chamber also offers a variety of services designed to help member businesses more successful.  They include benefit and discount programs, referrals, networking events and information distribution.  One of our most important programs is the business seminar series.  It is common in a small business for the owners, managers and employees to be responsible for a variety of duties - everyone must be a jack of all trades.  It can also be a challenge to find the time and resources to inform, train and motivate your team.  The Chamber is focused on providing opportunities that are both accessible and affordable.

 

A consistent topic of interest at the Chamber and among the business community has been service excellence.  Exceptional customer service has the ability to distinguish a business and a community.   Creating customer loyalty through service is a solid, low cost and long term strategy.  In order to meet the needs of our local businesses the Chamber will be delivering ongoing training for Service Excellence or Superhost, programs designed by the Ontario Tourism Education Corporation.  The training is relevant and available to businesses in all sectors.  It is our hope that every member business will participant in this program and lead the way in raising the service standards in our community.  When you train 100% of your management and 75% of your employees you will be designated as an official Service Excellence Organization with OTEC.  We would like to recognize our first round of graduates . . .

 

Shelley Colpitts of Alan Browns

Judy Flanigan of Alan Browns

Linda Thompson of Alan Browns

Deb Hamilton of Brockville and District Tourism

Ariel O'Neill of CSE Consulting

Charlotte McArthur of Grenville Community Futures Development Corporation

Penny Bahm of Hendrix Foodservice Equipment & Supplies

Pat Playford of Hendrix Foodservice Equipment & Supplies

 

We are fortunate in Brockville to have access to several high caliber trainers and consultants.  These firms have the knowledge and talent required to grow your business, manage it well and motivate your team.  We would like to extend special thanks to some of these people who donated their time, energy and expertise to the Chamber membership during our ‘Big Ideas for a Strong Business’ program in October, our national small business month.  We encourage you to contact them  for  your training and consulting needs, David R. Dean of David Dean Management Services, Wayne Runte of St. Lawrence College, Michael Hughes - THE Networking Guru, Jim Neubauer of Bell Aliant and Gary Gzik of BizXcel Inc.

 

Congratulations to those of you in this business community who take advantage of the networking, information and training opportunities afforded to you.  You have demonstrated a commitment to continuous improvement and this attitude is essential to growing your business and making your work a more rewarding experience.  Learning, changing and growing will be the keys to your success.

 

To mark the end of small business month - thank you to the members of our business community for your hard work and ongoing commitment to offer products and services that fill our needs and contribute to the economic prosperity of our region.  You provide jobs, pay taxes and support community causes and your hard work and vision are very much appreciated.