BrandonANNUAL REPORT Chamber of Commerce

2013-2014

CONTENTS Mission/Vision Statement 2 2012-2013 Board of Directors 2 Leadership Message 3 Events 4 By the Numbers 5 Highlights 6 Advocacy 8 Treasurer’s Report 9 Sponsors 10 1 BRANDON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ANNUAL REPORT

2013-2014 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President Vice-President Secretary/Treasurer Past-President CRAIG SENCHUK TODD BIRKHAN JORDAN LUDWIG NATE ANDREWS Agri-Trend Business Management BDO Canada LLP Brandon Business Interiors Guild Insurance Brokers Inc.

TERRY CARLISLE DANIEL A. BURNS KARLA DANE TERRY BURGESS, LYNDSAY MURRAY Cando Rail Services Ltd. Burns Maendel Consulting Meighen Haddad LLP RBC Royal Bank Murray Auto Centre Brandon Engineers Ltd.

TYLER RICE FRANK ARNDT BONNIE NAY-DRAPER CARLA MILNE CHAD WALLIN Powell Construction myITsource.ca/MTS Connect - Entrepreneurship Manitoba MNP LLP Joe Beeverz Bar & Grill Corral Centre blu Kitchen Bar

WHO WE ARE MISSION VISION The Brandon Chamber of To encourage growth in the Brandon A vibrant, growing organization that reflects the Commerce is an independent, community by fostering a dynamic, diverse business environment in membership funded, non-profit progressive business environment, Brandon and delivers recognized value for its organization that represents favourable to enhancing existing and members. Respected at all levels of government Brandon business from the attracting new business. and the community as a highly credible and grassroots level. influential organization, the Chamber is the voice of Brandon’s growing business community.

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LEADERSHIP MESSAGE

Thank you to our nearly 600 members, for your continued support, participation, and membership. Your investment enables the chamber to continue its work to champion for local business and a strong economic environment.

2013-2014 was another active year for the Chamber and we are pleased to have accomplished many goals on behalf of our members. The Chamber has served as the ‘voice of business’ in our community for over 131 years. We take tremendous pride in our commitment and responsibility in providing valuable services and benefits to help our members grow and prosper and representing business with all levels of government. Financially, the Chamber continues to strengthen its position and we are pleased to report another profitable year.

Our events continued to be a popular benefit of membership and were pleased to be able to grow our calendar this past year with the addition of our first oil and gas conference on the opportunities in the Bakken, as well as increasing the number of professional development workshops we offered. The support, sponsorship and engagement from members assisted in making our events successful and meaningful and we will continue to work to bring these high quality events in the year ahead.

This past year, we also revived two important committees. The Workforce Development Committee was formed to address the challenges around labour attraction and retention and we have been very pleased with the engagement of the various stakeholders around the table. Recognizing the importance of agriculture to our local economy, our new Ag committee has brought together key stakeholders to explore the challenges and opportunities within this industry.

Of course, our advocacy efforts continue to be a very important aspect of our work as well. The Chamber actively participated in the annual budget reviews of the city and Brandon School Division attending various public forums and stakeholder meetings to promote fiscal responsibility and to ensure the business perspective was heard. We continued to dialogue with our local MLAs and MP to actively pursue issues on provincial and federal levels to ensure that local business interests were represented at all levels of government.

Provincially and nationally we remain connected to the Chamber Network with our alignment with organizations such as the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce, which represents over 10,000 businesses, and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce which represents over 200,000 businesses. Together we help shape policy that will make a difference to businesses in our area.

We continued to offer many valued added benefits through our affinity and discount programs. In addition to exclusive offers from local members, our affiliation with both the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Manitoba Chamber of Commerce allow our members direct access to additional benefits for their business.

In the year ahead, we will continue to seek your input, participation and feedback in our efforts to strengthen the work and activities of the Chamber. With a strong and dedicated board, hardworking and knowledgeable staff, and a vibrant and active membership the Brandon Chamber of Commerce will continue its success as a your business advocate in the year ahead.

We thank you for your support.

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EVENTS YEAR IN REVIEW: 2013-2014 EVENTS

The Chamber strives to deliver exceptional networking and business June (2013) development opportunities that also  President’s Luncheon and Changeover Ceremony provide opportunities to connect and  Annual Golf Tournament hear from government officials and  WordPress Workshop thought leaders. September  Luncheon Series – Ferio Pugliese, WestJet In 2013-2014, the Brandon Chamber October hosted 32 events as well as  Small Business Month Workshop: Making the Most of LinkedIn approximately 40 Friday Chamber  Luncheon Series: Small Business ‘Kick Off’ Coffees, with over 4700 total attendees.  Chamber AGM This year, through our monthly luncheon  Small Business Week Workshop: High Performance Team Building series, we offered you the opportunity  Small Business Week Workshop: Business Transition to hear from Westjet Encore President  Small Business Month Workshop: Marketing Panel Discussion Ferio Puglisese, Centreport CEO Diane November Gray, Ag guru Kim McConnell as well  Luncheon Series: Diane Gray, Centreport Premier Selinger and Mayor Decter  Workshop: Email Marketing 1.0 Hirst , to name just a few. Our two  Business After 5: Keystone Centre signature events, the Annual Gala Dinner  Workshop: Capitalizing on Critical Skills and Golf Tournament were once again  Chamber Federal By-Election Forum huge successes with both events sold  Meet & Greet with US Consulate out. This year we also hosted our first  Workshop: Why You Have to do Safety to Do Business conference on oil and gas: Manitoba to  Brandon Black Friday Campaign Montana: Business Opportunities in the December Bakken which was a huge success. Not  Christmas Luncheon only did attendance double original January estimates, but the event attracted  Luncheon Series: Martin Neuhofer of Wendell Estate Honey attendees from across the province.  Lunch & Learn: Executive & Business Coaching February  Luncheon & Conference: Manitoba to Montana—Business Opportu- nities in the Bakken March  Champion of Ag Luncheon: Kim McConnell, founder of AdFarm  12th Annual Aboriginal Job Fair “Through the networking  131st Annual Dinner—A Red Carpet Affair opportunities the Chamber April offers, we have been able  Lunch & Learn: Manitoba Hydro Power Smart for Business to meet and retain some of  State of the Province Address with Premier Selinger our most loyal clients.  Business After 5: Alternative Landscaping Ltd. May Helping other businesses  State of the City Address with Mayor Shari Decter Hirst succeed by referring each  Past President’s Dinner other is a win-win.”  Lunch & Learn: Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation Anita Haig, Owner of  Business After 5: Brandon Regional Health Centre—Murray House Blinds by Anita Weekly  Every Friday – September-June – Chamber Coffees

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By the Numbers

533 598 Number of attendees at the Number of total members 131st Annual Gala Dinner

351 5 Total number of Chamber Number of Business Facebook friends Achievement Awards handed out.

75% Number of sponsors that 36 are repeat sponsors Number of new members

2891 1056 Number of luncheon Number of Chamber twitter attendees followers

32+ 27 Number of Chamber Number of cost reduction events last year programs offered through the Chamber Network

1000 Approximate number of 131 cups of coffee consumed at Number of years the Chamber Friday Coffees. Chamber has been the voice of Business

88% Percentage representing 104 retention of members Number of committee meeting held last year

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HIGHLIGHTS

COMMUNICATIONS PARTNERSHIPS

The Chamber strives to communicate effectively with 2013-2014 saw the Chamber develop and renew our members and in 2013-2014, we sent out 12 community partnerships and collaborations on a informational mailers, with 6 issues of our Chamber @ number initiatives and events. a Glance newsletter in addition to approximately 50 Chamber Insider e-newsletters to over 1100 We continued our partnership with Interprovincial subscribers. These publications keep members up to Association on Native Employment (IANE) to co-host date on Chamber events and advocacy issues as well as the Aboriginal Job Fair as well as continued Chamber regular features such as ‘member news’ and ‘member representation on a number of external committees profiles’ as an additional no cost benefit. including Crime Stoppers, Brandon Salutes, Brandon Development Group, and the Manitoba Chamber of We continued to boost our social media presence Commerce Board. The Chamber met with BU and ACC increasing our twitter followers from 600 to over 1050 to discuss education programs and Employer needs. this past year! Our twitter ‘Selfie Contest’ at the The Chamber saw new partnerships with World Trade Annual Dinner was a particular hit with attendees. Centre Winnipeg to host our first oil/gas conference and with Entrepreneurship Manitoba and Economic We also sent our annual membership survey to learn Development Brandon to grow educational from our members how we can better support them opportunities through various workshops and panel and to hear directly from business leaders on the discussions. Through new committees, we brought challenges and opportunities they are experiencing. together key stakeholders to discuss workforce Networking continues to be identified by members as development and the ag industry. a key benefit of membership.

We profiled members in the 7th edition of our EDUCATION Brandon Business Review Magazine and published our annual Membership Roster, both of which have turned Over the past year, the Chamber continued to strive to from an expense to a revenue generator. provide a variety of educational opportunities. We had a number of informative speakers at our monthly We continue to see success with our client luncheons and other special events who educated management software—ChamberMaster, in helping members on a variety of topics including the make our operations more efficient and providing importance of agriculture, business opportunities in more value added services for our members. Members the oil and gas industry and Manitoba business can login and update contact information, add ‘hot success stories, to name a few. deals’ and events or take advantage of the opportunity for an enhanced business directory with the ability to We worked to grow our business information series upload videos, logos and expanded business by developing partnerships with Entrepreneurship information. We will promote this opportunity more in Manitoba and Economic Development Brandon to the upcoming year. offer a variety of Small Business Month workshops.

AMBASSADORS PROGRAM NEW COMMITTEES A new Ambassador’s program was launched this year. A dedicated group of volunteers helped encourage In response to the increasing needs and challenges greater participation in Chamber events by facilitating around labour retention and attraction, we formed our introductions amongst members and integrating new Workforce Development committee to explore members in Chamber networking activities. strategies.

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THE CHAMBER NETWORK Recognizing that agriculture plays a significant contributor to our local economy, we revived our Ag commmittee to explore and strengthen the Your Chamber is part of a larger business network. opportunities within the Ag industry. Being aligned with the largest and most influential business organizations in Manitoba and Canada, we can work together to shape policy that will make a RECOGNITION difference to business in our region. These organizations have achieved notable successes in It’s important to recognize and celebrate the success influencing policy for the benefit of our members. of our business community! Both organizations provide superior advocacy work on behalf of our business and initiatives can be Through our annual Business Achievement Awards, viewed on their websites: www.chamber.ca and which were revised this past year, we are able to mbchamber.mb.ca. recognize excellence in innovation, leadership and contribution to our community. The 2013-2014 Highlights: recipients were:  Attended the Manitoba Chamber AGM in  Business Person of the Year—Doug Murray, Dauphin, MB and supported various motions Murray Auto Centre Brandon including encouraging provincial budget planning  Lifetime Business Builder—Jeff Cristall, MNP and fiscal responsibility, provincial venture capital  Outstanding New Business Award—The Paw strategy and opposition to the proposed increase Resort & Wellness Centre to the PST.  Business Excellence Award—BEHLEN Industries  Brandon Chamber won the bid to host the next  Community Service Award—Bernie Chrisp Manitoba Chamber AGM to held in May of 2015!  Delegates attended the Canadian Chamber of Award winners received recognition at our Gala Dinner Commerce AGM in Kelowna, BC to lobby on held in March as well as being profiled in our annual behalf of Brandon Chamber members Brandon Business Review Magazine.  Brandon Chamber General Manager, was elected to the Canadian Chamber of Executives Board At our Small Business Week Luncheon, we recognize and was elected the chair of the newly formed those members who are celebrating milestone Chamber Executives of Manitoba anniversaries.

In partnership with Prairie Mountain Health, we also presented the annual ‘Best Boss Award’ to a deserving recipient nominated by their staff. In 2013-2014 we presented two awards: Trevor Hallson (RBC Royal Bank) and Kevin Boyd (Career Connections).

“You get to know key decision makers in the city and it’s a great way to get connected and meet the business community” Steve Langston, Dirty Shirt Productions

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ADVOCACY Advocating on behalf of our members is a central mandate of our chamber, and this past year we worked hard to engage stakeholders and speak to all levels of government on a variety of business issues. The following is a summary of the prior- ity issues we advanced in the 2013-2014 year. AIR SERVICE PRE-ELECTION ACTIVITIES

The Business Development Committee, in consultation With the unexpected resignation of Merv Tweed, the with WestJet, developed an air service survey to gar- Chamber hosted a Federal By-Election Forum to hear ner feedback on usage and customer needs. from candidates running in the Brandon-Souris riding so members and the community at large could be in- formed about relevant policy position of the various SHOP BRANDON candidates and parties.

In response to the Black Friday in the US, we supported With a municipal elections slated for the fall of 2014, local businesses by offering free advertising to mem- the government relations committee started the devel- bers, so they could promote their own discounts. opment of a candidate’s scorecard to gauge candi- date’s position on important business issues. This will be presented in conjunction with a Mayoral Election Debate in the Fall off 2014. TAXATION

The Chamber was actively involved in the local, provin- TEMPORARY FOREIGN WORKERS PROGRAM cial and federal government and school division budget processes, attending all public forums and consulta- tions, all day budget sessions as well as a variety of The Chamber met with various stakeholders and elect- additional meetings to encourage fiscal responsibility. ed officials, sent letters and op-ed pieces and support- We also participated in WCG LIVE Provincial Budget ed Canadian Chamber resolutions regarding the chang- Reaction Show to give feedback on Chamber positions. es to the temporary foreign workers program and the negative impact that could have for employers and our local community and economy.

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ANTI-SPAM LEGISLATION There were a variety of meetings between members of City Council and the Chamber Board of Directors to discuss infrastructure, budget concerns and other is- We have been distributing this information to our sues. A Chamber representative was also at each City members and encouraging them to make the neces- Council and School Division meeting. sary preparations in advance of it coming into force on July 1, 2014. The chamber then turned its attention to Provincially, chamber representatives met with both ensuring that our own operations would be compliant local MLA’s as well as various ministers and other key with the new legislation. This will be an ongoing pro- staff to discuss members concerns including hog sup- cess. ply issues, taxation, and labour challenges. 12@12 Member Input Session Federally, we met several times with MP Larry Maguire and various ministers to express concern over the To increase member feedback and engagement we changes to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, continued these roundtable discussions to learn more labour challenges at large and trade barriers amongst about our members, the challenges they face and the other issues. role the Chamber can play. Look for more of these in the new year.

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TREASURER’S REPORT

On behalf of the entire Brandon Chamber of Commerce Board, the following represents a synopsis of the infor- mation in the Year End reports. These reports are available to any of our Chamber Members at our 1043 Rosser Avenue, Brandon, Manitoba location.

Our year end report, dated May 31, 2014, highlights a net surplus of $68,789 or an increase of $33,007 over the same period in 2013. This increase can be largely attributed to an increase in revenues bolstered by the success of the 1st Oil and Gas event held in early 2014 and prudent management of expenses within the annual budget. As a result of the net surplus, the Chamber remains in a strong financial position with approximately $277,500 held in cash after adjustments for accounts payable.

Of particular note within the financial statements is the $23,443 expenditure for building repairs. These ex- penses were expected and part of the plan to invest in the maintenance of our property to ensure its long term viability. A contingency fund was identified in 2013 and will be maintained by annually designating a portion of the financial surplus.

Looking forward to 2015, we are confident that our strong financial position will remain and a financial plan is in place, to further support our membership activities. We have planned for and anticipate three areas of in- creased spending in the upcoming year including; painting & carpeting the interior Chamber offices; the staffing of a new role in support of attraction and retention of Chamber Members; and additional costs to Host the 2015 Manitoba Chamber Annual General Meeting.

Special thanks to Carolynn Cancade and her staff for the prudent financial management of our Chamber organ- ization and Sharpe & Co. Chartered Accountant Ltd. for the preparation and review of our Financial Reports.

“The Chamber is always the first ones to stand up for business in whatever issues might arise, be it with the city, the province, the Chamber is the first voice, doesn’t matter what kind of business you are in.” Kerry Campbell, (now retired) President of C&C Construction Ltd.

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THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SPONSORS and SUPPORTERS!

LUNCHEONS 131st ANNUAL DINNER— 2014 BA5s Sunrise Credit Union Ltd. BDO Keystone Centre Inc. Entrepreneurship MB NetSet Communications & I-Netlink Alternative Landscaping Ltd. Assiniboine Community College Wireless BRHCF - Murray House Keywest Photo Image by Design Inc. Behlen Industries Corral Communications Ltd. (MTS Benmarks ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT—2013 Connect Corral Centre) Cando Rail Services Ltd. CGA Manitoba—Westman Chapter CGA Manitoba—Westman Chapter Keywest Photo Image by Design Inc. Altus Geomatics Manitoba WCG / Travel MB MB Liquor & Lotteries Professional Land Surveyors Brandon First Brandon Sun Canadian Tire Crocus Credit Union The Party Professionals Guild Insurance Brokers Inc. Brandon Regional Health Centre Westman Communications Group St. John Ambulance—Brandon Branch Foundation Sunrise Credit Union Ltd. Alternative Landscaping Ltd. Brandon University MTS Connect - Shoppers Mall/Corral Murray Auto Group Brandon IANE Centre/Victoria Ave myITsource.ca / Frank’s Computer 3 Percent Realty Solution Westoba Credit Union Sales and Service Cancer Society MNP MyPhone.ca (MTS Connect Brandon Sargent Lock & Safe Ltd. Zeke's Quality Jewellers Ltd. Shoppers Mall) Child and Family Services of Western Winnipeg Blue Bombers Western Financial Group Manitoba West-Fit Physiotherapy & Sports Assiniboine Community College Injury Clinic Desjardins Financial Security CONFERENCE Shoppers Mall Investments Inc. Assiniboine Community College Roy Johnston TDS InfoMetrics Incorporated Branstone Financial Strategies Inc. Remington's Seafood & Steakhouse Joe Beeverz Bar & Grill Guild Insurance Brokers Inc. RBC Royal Bank Leech Printing Ltd. Roy Johnston TDS Maple Leaf Foods Inc. MTS Inc CKLQ/STAR FM Leech Printing Ltd. RBC Royal Bank Brandon Sun Guild Insurance Brokers Inc. STRATA Benefits Consulting Inc. TL Penner Construction Crane Steel Structures Inc. Total Eye Care Centre Structural Comp Tech Canad Inns Destination Centre West-Fit Physiotherapy & Sports Protegra Brandon Injury Clinic ATLIS Geomatics Brockie Donovan Ltd. Westman Communications Group King's Septic Bromley's Menswear Shoppers Mall Westeel Burns Maendal Consulting Engineers Westoba Credit Union Infometrics Incorporated Canexus Chemicals Canada LP YMCA of Brandon Corral Communications Ltd. (MTS Manitoba Hydro Tim Hortons Connect Corral Centre) Manitoba Public Insurance Blue Moon Water Bison Fire Protection Sargent Lock & Safe Ltd. Subway Aquatic Life Vanguard Credit Union Ltd. Frito-Lay Canada Synergy Land Services Ltd. Western Financial Group Municipal Wast Mgt Blinds by Anita WORKSHOP PARTNERS Souris Pumping Brandon Wheat Kings Entrepreneurship Manitoba SITE Energy Dick Agencies Insurance Brokers Economic Development Brandon Reaxion Graphics Image & Wellness Centre Leon's Furniture Superstore BEST BOSS AWARD PARTNER FRIDAY CHAMBER COFFEES Prairie Mountain Health Tim Hortons Coffee Culture Café & Eatery

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