2021 Year End
A YEAR OF SUPPORT & OVERCOMING OBSTACLES
We value our community’s support, feedback, and ideas – for building a better Cranbrook together.
We’ve had a year like no other… With sharp turns and steep drops; However, we also saw the community embrace one another, and remind us why we all choose to live and work in Cranbrook BC.
We invite you to explore the topics below as a summary of our 2021 year-end.
BUSINESS ADVOCACY
PARTNERSHIPS & PLANNING
EVENTS & TRAINING
BUSINESS ADVOCACY
January:
- Cranbrook Social issues (homelessness, petty crime, mental health and addictions) and the impact on
business. - After sending a letter to the City on behalf of a group of member restaurants re the social issues (homelessness, petty crime, additions, mental health) and the impacts of these issues on the business community, the Chamber continued to work with our City Liaison to lobby council to form a working group comprised of community stakeholders and including the Cranbrook Chamber.
March:
- Letter to the Minister of Health, supported by multiple Chambers of the East and West Kootenays:
- Addressing mis-categorization of live theatre and cinema as events and requesting that the designation for live theatres and cinema be changed from events to business to allow these venues to submit safety plans for approval.
April:
- Letter to Minister Dix re: 3rd wave circuit breaker lockdown supported by 9 other Chambers in the East and West Kootenays:
- Calling for stronger supports from the Provincial government during this 3rd wave of COVID-19 and its resulting restrictions to business operations.
- Requesting clarity on what new restrictions mean to the longevity of current business supports and subsidy programs.
- Requesting the province government offer new, immediate, and versatile financial supports to those effected by the latest order, as many businesses impacted by this are likely already using existing supports or do not qualify for them.
- Requesting that the Province take a regional approach to COVID-19 restrictions
October:
- Meeting with Minister Khalon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation
- Cranbrook Chamber and other Chambers from the Province addressed the labor crisis,
housing, transportation (commercial and tourism related), Truth and Reconciliation, as well as the limitations of the PNP program. - Ravi Khalon has stated that he will be scheduling regular meetings with our network for us to inform him of the issues/challenges etc.
November:
- Social Issues and impacts on Business:
- Chamber joins Community Action Team meeting with social support agencies to speak on behalf
of members regarding forming a working group to address issues of homelessness, petty crime,
mental health and addictions. - Discussed the concept of a working group or task force regarding social issues impacting
business – received a favorable response to the idea - Worked with a group of Cranbrook Business to craft and gather support for a second letter to the City of Cranbrook sharing the concerns of businesses in Cranbrook about social issues and requesting the City create a working group or task force consisting community stakeholders to address these issues
- Chamber joins Community Action Team meeting with social support agencies to speak on behalf
PARTNERSHIPS & PLANNING
MEMBER’S VOICES BEING BROUGHT TO THE TABLE
- Cranbrook downtown revitalization planning committee – City of Cranbrook
- Cranbrook Official Community Planning stakeholder consultations– City of Cranbrook
- Cranbrook Economic Development Roadmap Planning – stakeholder consultations
- Tourism Master Planning: Partner with City of Cranbrook, Cranbrook Tourism, and Ktunaxa Nation
- Economic Sector to develop tourism master plan for Cranbrook
- Regional Chamber partnerships for regional advocacy issues
BUSINESS SUPPORTS
- Business Recovery Advisor:
- In April of 2021 the Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Columbia Valley
Chamber, Kootenay Employment Service, Kimberley Chamber of Commerce, Golden Community
Co-op applied for a grant with ETSI BC to create a local Business Recover Advisor Position - The intention of the BRA is to keep businesses apprised of current recovery programs and grants
and work one on one with businesses to find programs that work for them and help to navigate
applications - **The BRA also gathers information from businesses on the supports they require along with
what supports are currently helpful and which are not, providing feedback to the Cranbrook
Chamber which gets relayed to the Provincial and Federal governments through consultation
with Chambers**
- In April of 2021 the Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Columbia Valley
ROUNDTABLES & RESULTING ACTIONS/PRESENTATIONS
- Sept 22nd – Vaccine Passport Roundtable with Businesses
- The Chamber hosts a workshop with President and CEO of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices
Association (BCRFA) and the President and Program Manager of the Fitness Industry Council of
Canada (FIC) to clarify rules around the proof of vaccine certificate as they apply to different
types of businesses in the food service sector and the fitness industry.
- The Chamber hosts a workshop with President and CEO of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices
- Truth and reconciliation:
- Hosted a 3 workshop series with Michele Sam, in partnership with KNC, Fortis, and Teck for business on truth and reconciliation and the growth of indigenous economy.
- Shop Local:
- Live, Spend, Be Local Campaign – December 2020 to January 2021 and November 2021 to January 2022.
- The Cranbrook Chamber procured a grant from CBT to promote shop local.
- Shoppers at participating retailers entered by draw slip at the retailer or uploaded picture if their receipts to the Chamber website and were entered to win prize packs with a total value of over $4000.
- Cranbrook Turkey Drive: Last year we reached $100,000 in donations, in 2021 we brought in over $80,000.
- Step Code Education:
- Focus group with builders to determine gaps in current Step Code education.
- Workshop series November (Mechanical Systems), another workshop series upcoming in February.
- Educational video series (Cranbrook and Fernie case studies) currently in production.
EVENTS & TRAINING
January
- Cecile Andreas from Crux Coaching held an Enneagram workshop for personal development.
- Recruiting, Retaining, and Accessing Talented Labour Roundtable.
- The annual Cranbrook Business Walk has identified recruitment and retention to talented labour as a major barrier in our community.
February
- Diversity in the Workplace Workshop with ITA. Sponsored by Vast Resources.
- Step Code and the Triple Bottom Line. Brought to you by FortisBC and the College of the Rockies.
March
- Funding for Business Recovery Advisor approved. This program helps businesses find the appropriate resources and services to recover from the pandemic.
- Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting
- Women’s Retreat for women in business
April
- Board Training
May
- Started brainstorming and working towards building a native plant garden at the Chamber of Commerce
June
- The Cranbrook Visitor Centre at Elizabeth Lake is open for the summer season! Did you know
that that location is run by volunteers?
July
- Summer students busy with volunteer coordination and visitor services!
- Released Annual Business Walk Survey
- First Golf Social of the summer! Sponsored by Broadstreet Properties.
August
- Summer students spent an afternoon baking cookies for the volunteers at the Visitor Centre!
- Second Golf Social! Sponsored by Paper Excellence.
- Sent out a survey to membership asking for perceived impacts on businesses due to the proof of vaccination certificate.
September
- All Candidates Forum – provincial election
- Zoom meeting with restaurants, gym, and hotel operators about affects of proof of vaccine certificate.
- First session of Indigenous Peoples and Place with Michele Sam. Sponsored by FortisBC, Teck,
and the East Kootenay Community Credit Union.
October
- Second Session of Indigenous Peoples and Place with Michele Sam. Sponsored by FortisBC, Teck, and the East Kootenay Community Credit Union.
- Information Session on the Vaccine Passport with the President and CEO of the BCRFA and the President of the FIC.
- Targeting Growth and Development Strategy Workshop for Small Business Week. Hosted by Matt Lamb from Genex Marketing.
- Helen Barron, Executive Director, featured on CBC Daybreak with Chris Walker to discuss the end of COVID-19 benefits and the labour shortage.
- Cranbrook Chamber meets with Ravi Khalon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery, and
Innovation to discuss labour crisis, transportation, and Truth and Reconciliation. - Final session of Indigenous Peoples and Place with Michele Sam. Sponsored by FortisBC, Teck, and the East Kootenay Community Credit Union.
- A busy month for the Computer Donation! This month we have provided fifteen laptops to our community – for FREE!
- Partners with College of the Rockies to deliver Human resources training for business and small business week workshop series
November
- The first Chamber Luncheon in over a year! Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers was the speaker.
December
- Annual Turkey Drive
- Live, Spend, Be Holiday Campaign!