Mission City Record
www.missioncityrecord.com
Friday, November 15, 2019 A15
NOVEMBER 2019
What is advocacy? Our goal is to bring local challenges forward, and by doing so, making sure Mission’s business community has a powerful voice. MRCC is a member of both, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the BC Chamber of Commerce, which means we become a part of 220,000 business voices for our members on policies moving forward. In October, MRCC represented its members and spoke to policies brought forward at a Lower Mainland Consultation with Government. The dedication to advocacy allowed representatives from the Mission Chamber to meet with 25 government representatives—including Deputy Ministers and Assistant Deputy Ministers across 14 ministries —to discuss both local and pan-provincial issues affecting businesses in the region. MRCC Represents it’s members and speaks to policies brought forward at Lower Mainland Consultation with Government.
The Mission Chamber of Commerce provides Advocacy to its members and the business community, but what does “Advocacy” mean to local businesses and members? Advocacy in all its forms seeks to ensure that people, or in the Mission Chamber of Commerce’s platform; businesses and business owners, are able to: Have their voice heard on issues that are important to them. The Mission Regional Chamber of Commerce (MRCC) submits policies that are created on the basis of listening to their members; these policies are then put forward to one or more of the three levels of government.
As 2019 comes to a close, we practice the act of listening to our members and community business leaders, on issues that need our attention. November 28th will be “Table Talk” at the Mission Chamber Boardroom, which is a small group of business owners joining the Chamber for coffee and participating in discussion around challenges, success stories, and anything that the District, Province or Federal Government would like to know. This process will foster our listening exercise and support the growth of future policies that we can bring to levels of government in 2020. #BetterTogether If you are interested in participating in Table Talk on November 28th please contact connect@missionchamber.bc.ca
one year in – executive director update In October 2019 I was awarded the opportunity to take the reins at the Mission Chamber from the Board of Directors. With the support of a strong team, encouragement of the past ED, Kristin Parsons, and an incredible resource within the Chamber Network I took the challenge and I am so happy I did. Over the past 12 months the Chamber Board and Staff have revisited the strategic plan, the story we want to tell, and what we want our value proposition to be to Mission businesses. UPDATE: We figured it out, it isn’t about us at all. It is about supporting you, our members, the local businesses and organizations which make up the backbone of the community. So we ask you, how are we doing? We need to hear from each of you, big, small or in-between. Conversations are how we find out what great things are happening, and what things present challenges for you. How do we plan to reach you? We will still use traditional Chamber methods, emails, articles, social media, and luncheons, however we are creating new ways to engage. New events, new Business Leader Series events, new workshops and our monthly “Table Talk”. Table Talk is an informal gathering of business owners or representatives that have something to “talk” about. Finally, we are all looking forward to 2020 and see how much more we can do. If you want to reach me for any reason, please contact me at E x e c D i r @ M i s s i o n C h a m b e r. b c . c a or t:604-826-6914 Thank you Mission - Jo-Anne Chadwick
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