The South Shuswap Chamber of Commerce has been given a special award.
Last Thursday, chamber general manager Karen Brown received a phone call asking her to fly up to Prince George to receive an award in honour of its work and diligence in revitalizing the chamber.
Brown accepted the award on behalf of the board of directors from BC Chamber executive James Belsheim, president of Neptune Terminals, who sponsored the award. Both outgoing president John Winter and Belsheim had high praise for the chamber at the AGM’s welcome dinner.
The chamber had been nominated by its membership for BC Chamber of the Year and, although that distinction went to Kelowna, Belsheim and others applauded the South Shuswap chamber’s accomplishments.
They told the more than 300 delegates that the South Shuswap Chamber, under a new board of directors and administration, had taken a chamber on hiatus with no members to one of more than 100 members in 16 months.
Referring to it as a Phoenix rising from the ashes, the recognition was dubbed The Comeback Award for 2015.
As well, the South Shuswap Chamber was praised for its ‘Chamber of Change’ working model.
It is the only virtual chamber in the province, haven given up a chamber office during the revitalization.
“Business owners don’t have time in their day to drop everything and visit the chamber office, so we choose to go to them,” says Brown.
Board meetings are held at various businesses in the community, giving board members a keen awareness of the businesses and their needs.
“Our model facilitates more face-to-face engagement, which I feel the membership appreciates,” says Brown. “And it certainly fosters more networking and member-to-member opportunities that are key to business success.”
Brown thanked the Kamloops and Salmon Arm chambers of commerce for their mentorship, and her board of directors, who work tirelessly as volunteers to see the chamber succeed.