When my family moved to Summerside, one of the first things I noticed was that the business community understood that when we stand together we do better. Summerside works because people do business with people they know; people who are hard working, trustworthy and good.
For the past 116 years your Greater Summerside Chamber of Commerce has been the glue keeping our business community together. Your Chamber has had its ups and downs, but has always worked to deliver value for its members as an advocate on issues of collective concern, a champion for successes, a hub for relationship building and by delivering benefits that wouldn’t be viable for businesses acting alone. On all of these objectives, 2016 will be no different.
This year your Chamber will also be focused on the way forward – implementing initiatives arising from our conference held in each of the past two years, collaborating with stakeholders to define the vision for economic development, changing the Summerside business story as one to be proud of and engaging the business leaders of tomorrow.
In late 2015 the Board of Directors developed a new three-year strategic plan. The new Board will work to meet the goals and implement the performance metrics contained in the plan. I am really excited with our Board this year. The strategic planning process has also allowed your Chamber to identify specific initiatives and timelines against which our progress can be measured. I encourage all members to take a look at the Strategic Plan and offer input, advice or support on the initiatives.
It looks to be an interesting and important year. We know where we have been; now we can keep moving forward, better, together. Join us.