Advocate. Connect. Educate.

Message From the President

We started our year as any other with our strategic planning. This process put an emphasis on: increased visibility on chamber initiatives, an advocacy focus, refocusing team efforts on highest value add programs, and an overall improved member experience.

For the first time in more than 5 years the Chamber attracted and hosted a business delegation from China which was looking at foreign investment opportunities in Manitoba. Representatives from pharmaceutical, real estate and retail were present.

A new Executive Director, Ben Dueck, transitioned into the role in Spring 2017. With a half year under his belt, Ben has been working to connect with members through visits and events, and will continue to look for ways to build the business community. As always, he is available to support your business and address any inquiries you may have.

In the area of advocacy, we have a couple of highlights to note. The last few months have been busy with the Business Tax legislation where we acted in conjunction with other chambers to express our business community’s concerns to the federal government. In addition, we communicated with our members on the potential impact of these changes, and where you can go for direction and advice.

This past summer the Chamber provided its annual report to the City on its current and future activities. As Mayor Goertzen noted in last year’s address, 2017 was to be “a year of partnerships”, and this has been true. Because of a strong relationship with the City, we were able to grow our ‘More For You Here’ branding, which they recently adopted to help promote Steinbach. Moving forward we plan to continue working with our Mayor and Council to see further Chamber outcomes brought to fruition.

Where are we going next? Over the course of the last few years, we have heard strong and passionate input from our members regarding the topic of Economic Development. As a growing and proactive community, there is a need to attract, build, and sustain business in the region. Over the past year the Chamber has been exploring programs to determine one with the best efficacy. This will continue to be a priority for the board.

As a business community, we are truly fortunate to have such a great team at EIS and Chamber.  I want to thank Gemma Brown, Evan Funk, Mike Fast, and Matt Wieler for their years of service on the Steinbach Chamber of Commerce board of directors. I would also like to thank our past Executive Director Linda Peters for her dedication and hard work to the Chamber through the past 6 ½ years. I look forward to working with the new members of our board who I hope are excited to be part of the continued growth and change in our community.