BY LORNE ECKERSLEY
Advance staff
There has been a recent changing of the guard at the Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce, and new president Mark Wolfe is optimistic that the organization remains relevant to the community.
With a mission to improve the local business climate, the Chamber’s history dates back to 1935, when the Creston Board of Trade was formed.
“We are in a rebuilding phase,” Wolfe admitted last week. In the past year there has been a change in management (with Vern Gorham taking on a part-time manager’s position) and many new directors taking on roles.
Wolfe, a recent transplant from Calgary, where he taught at university, was recruited to the board last year by Gorham and the two have been busy getting the organization back into shape.
“There has been a lot of cleaning up of contracts and practices,” Wolfe said. “We want to make sure the Chamber of Commerce is sustainable and meaningful to businesses and residents.”
With his background in communications (in Creston he has established KBTV, an on-line presence that features videos about businesses and events around the Kootenays) Wolfe has experience in corporate strategy.
“We have a lot of strengths here,” he said of the Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce. “There is a long legacy of it being part of the fabric of this community. It clearly has played a role in building a vibrant business community and has created a brand that is an incredibly valuable asset.”
The Chamber, Wolfe said, “has played key roles and stayed involved in many of the important conversations that are going on right now. The organization was respresented by vice-president Mark Saunders (CEO of Paddle & Portage) in the Official Community Plan process.
“We want to be a positive advocate for business. There is a range of things the Chamber of Commerce can and should be doing.”
While it’s easy to get caught up in local issues, a viable chamber of commerce needs to be aware of the bigger picture.
“We need to be tracking what’s going on in the world, with international relationships and trade, for instance, but also closer to home. For example, what will the impact of the recent provincial election be?”
Wolfe cites KES and its business programs as a valuable local asset, one that fits in with his vision of working to make the Creston Valley a place that keeps and attracts young people.
His time in BC has convinced him that the provincial government has much more to offer small business than it does in Alberta, and Wolfe said that the Chamber is exploring ways of encouraging startups.
“We’re looking at perhaps reducing membership costs to reflect the purchase of a business licence for newcomers,” he said. Connections with other chambers of commerce are also important, he added.
He looks forward to offering more professional development workshops for business “on everything from bookkeeping to strategic management.”
“The province has lots of resources,” he said. “There are some terrific programs at low and no cost.”
Recent renovations to the Chamber building have better defined the Visitor Centre (which is now operated by the RDCK and Town of Creston), and created spaces more amenable to Chamber business.
“We are working toward having either the manager or volunteers on site at all times during business hours, with a service counter that shows we are here to answer questions and support new prospective businesses.
“We want to be a consistent, reliable go-to resource.”
More information about the Creston Valley Chamber of Commerce can be found at www.crestonvalleychamber.com. The site is currently being revamped.