A Holiday Greeting from the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Dear members of the GNCC,

We are drawing near the end of a year that was shaped by the challenges of a pandemic that rocked the world. It proved — and still does — to be a challenge for our health systems and economy. At the same time, it has given us moments of inspiration as organizations innovatively adapted to new realities, individuals displayed unimaginable courage, and our community rose to support those most vulnerable among us.

Early in March, we celebrated International Women’s Day with Autumn Peltier, which unknown to us at the time, would become our final in-person event for the year. With the impact of COVID-19, only days later, our offices closed to the public and we started the quick transition to a virtual world.

To help organizations navigate new and rapidly evolving programs and policies, we launched the Daily Updates, a 4 p.m. brief filled with timely and relevant information about the latest government policies, subsidies and resources. Within weeks, its readership had increased to the thousands, resulting in record-high engagement to guide businesses through this new reality. This update was complimented by a regular webinar series called GNCC Espresso Live, a platform that allows for interactive dialogues with experts from every sector and explores how COVID-19 has impacted our life so far, and shape our societies tomorrow.

This was a year filled with rapid policy decisions and we took your concerns and accelerated all of our efforts to attain the policy changes needed at this time. Your input has been critical to achieving important policy changes and some of the Chamber network successes include expanding the wage subsidy from 10% to 75%, enhancing the commercial rent assistance program, larger loans to businesses through the CEBA program and the new HASCAP program, restaurant sales of beverage alcohol through delivery and pick-up, or the Digital Main Street initiative to help businesses transition to an online model. Through it all, we developed a three-phase recovery plan and a re-imagine Niagara initiative focused on regional economic recovery opportunities and sector specific relief.

During the pandemic, we were able to deliver our key signature events virtually such as the State of the Region, Niagara Economic Summit, Small Business Month and Women in Business Awards Gala. In addition, we have held smaller roundtables, Business After Five gatherings, town halls and many more. These virtual gatherings exceeded our expectations, clearly indicating that it was important to you to continuously connect with others.

We also launched Niagara Shop Local on Facebook and Instagram, a regional campaign encouraging Niagarans to buy local. This campaign is supporting local businesses in an effort to accelerate their recovery and it will continue in the new year in an even bigger format. Please stay tuned.

Digital marketing and communication became a critical tool for you, and we are pleased to have launched a host of opportunities for you to reach customers in a new way.

Looking at 2021, our business community is still facing uncertainty and challenges. We are committed to continuously advocate on your behalf for policies and programs that ensure an accelerated recovery and help you manage the disruption caused by COVID-19. Our digital marketing offerings are expanding along with our virtual events in support of your efforts.

On behalf of our board, my colleagues and councils, our sincerest thanks for your support of the GNCC and your commitment to Niagara. We look forward to working with you, and for you, to build a stronger Niagara for all.

We wish you a joyous and safe holiday season, and a wonderful new year.