February 28, 2017 | Submissions? email brad@gncc.ca |
UPCOMING
EVENTS
International Women’s Day
March 3, 2017 • 11:00am—2:00pm
Club Roma
125 Vansickle Road
St. Catharines
Business After 5
A-1 Flooring Canada
March 7, 2017 • 5:00pm—7:00pm
77 Ontario St., St. Catharines
Table Talks
March 9, 2017 • 12:00pm—1:30pm
Big Marco’s Italian Restaurant
274 Fourth Ave.
St. Catharines
Niagara Business Leadership Series with The Honourable Kevin Flynn, Minister of Labour
Work in the Modern Ontario Economy
March 10, 2017 • 7:30am—9:00am
Royal Niagara Golf Course
1 Niagara-on-the-Green Blvd
Niagara-on-the-Lake
Business Breakfast Before 9
March 15, 2017 • 7:15am—9:00am
Hilton Garden Inn
500 York Road
Niagara-on-the-Lake
State of the Region
March 24, 2017 • 11:00am—2:00pm
John Michael’s Banquet & Conference Centre
1368 Uppers Lane
Thorold
NEW MEMBERS:
January 2017
Please join us in welcoming the new members who joined in January 2017.
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Offers
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GNCC
ADVOCACY
The issue of public transit is of great importance to the business community. After our 2015 Niagara Economic Summit, we polled attendees to identify the top issues to emerge from that event — and integrated public transit with a single farebox was the most important issue by far.
Improved public transit offers many benefits to the business community. Moving people around more efficiently means a larger labour pool and employees who can get to work more easily. It means more students can find jobs and internships in their fields, helping better train the workforce of tomorrow, and it helps employers find motivated and interested employees for their industry. The success of the GO train, when it comes to Niagara, will depend in large part upon the efficiency of the feeder services that bring people to and from the GO stations.
Since January 2016, the Inter-Municipal Transit Working Group of Mayors, CAOs and transit managers from St. Catharines, Welland and Niagara Falls, with support from the Regional Chair and CAO, has been working together to develop options for integrated transit services for Niagara. The group has been working with Dillon Consulting to develop options for an integrated transit system that works for all of Niagara. The GNCC has partnered with the working group and with Dillon Consulting, putting together roundtables of local employers to offer their input on the future of Niagara transit.
The final Dillon report presents a governance strategy that recommends a consolidated transit model. This would see St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland Transit systems combine their services into one large consolidated transit system to serve the entire Niagara region. The consolidated transit model would allow local municipalities to maintain control over transit system planning and allows the Region to be involved in the funding and decision making of inter-municipal connections.
Emerging Social Media Opportunities
As a young professional that used available online social tools and platforms to land in the working field, I would recommend using social media to connect you into the workforce.
Realizing I had a passion early in college, I have volunteered doing social media for organizations for nearly a decade.
St. Catharines Moves Inter-Municipal Transit Forward
St. Catharines city council voted unanimously to move forward with inter-municipal transit on February 22, following Welland council’s united move the night before.
The vote endorsed in principle the creation of a consolidated transit system — a partnership of St. Catharines, Welland, Niagara Falls and Niagara Region.
Time to Take Inventory
It may not have an exciting title — the Niagara Region Employment Inventory — but the innovative new study may prove to be a treasure trove of data for local businesses and potential investors.
“It is critical that we have the data to compare with other regions in Ontario,” said GNCC President & CEO Mishka Balsom. “The information will give us a competitive advantage when we talk to potential investors and businesses.
Members
In the News
Calling All Food & Beverage Makers
On March 2nd & 3rd, 2017 the Agri-food Management Institute is hosting the Food & Beverage Convention: Niagara 2017, a robust conference for food and beverage processing businesses.
Don’t miss the pre-conference events, including a food safety workshop where participants can receive a valuable toolkit of resources, and the Innovation Landscape Bus Tour, a tour of Niagara’s centers of innovation.
Cuvée: Eat, drink and support students and research
It’s that time again, when people mark their calendars for one of Ontario’s favourite and most delicious fundraisers.
The annual Cuvée Grand Tasting takes place on Friday, March 24 at the Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls, where last year nearly 800 people attended a sold-out party characterized by top vintages, gourmet food and live music.
Do you know Robert’s Rules of Order?
Are you a young person aspiring to lead on a Board of Directors? Join NEXTNiagara on March 14th for a Robert’s Rules seminar facilitated by Regional Councillor Kelly Edgar.
This is a chance to dive deeper into one of the most infamous structures for board meetings. Agendas and debates and motions, oh my!
Research examines what Niagara employers look for in young job seekers
At the same time Brock University helps prepare graduates to be contributors to the Canadian economy, it is also conducting research that examines what employers are looking for in their new hires.
A new policy brief set to be released on February 28 by Brock’s Niagara Community Observatory sheds light on Niagara employers’ expectations of young job seekers.
Congratulations 23rd Annual NEYA Recipients
Entrepreneurship was celebratd on February 24th at the Niagara Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Gala.
Award recipients included Lifetime Achievement Award winner Jack Vanderlaan, Jan R. Cook Community Contribution Award winners Steve and Mary Jane Rochefort.
Furtney Crysler open Saturdays for tax season
Furtney Crysler LLP will be open on Saturdays from 9:00 am — noon throughout March and April to help members through tax season.
Furtney Crysler LLP partners with clients to provide accounting, audit and assurance, consulting, and taxation assistance to individuals, small businesses, private companies and not-for-profit organizations.
Network
News
What to Expect When You’re Expecting (a Federal Budget!)
Can you feel the excitement in the air? A brand new federal budget is about to be delivered into the world. A precious bundle of joy, full of hopes, expectations and the future of the Canadian economy will come screaming into the House of Commons in a couple of weeks.
So what should we expect? Three big things are keeping us on the edge of our seats. This baby will have larger deficits than last year amid economic uncertainty. She’ll be full of exciting details around previous announcements.
How to persuade on trade — putting an extra “F” in NAFTA
At a press conference on February 2, President Trump said “we want to put an extra ‘F’ in NAFTA. Do you know what that ‘F’ stands for?” It’s not what you’re thinking.
President Trump wants to add the word “fair” to NAFTA. Though apparently Canada only requires a “tweak” because the situation is “much less severe”. Why is the new administration so focused on fairness?
The year when populism meets policy
If 2016 was the year of Populist Surprise (none of us predicted Brexit or the victory of Mr. Trump), then 2017 will be the year of Populist Policy. More precisely, this will be the year we find out whether this global wave of populism will translate into concrete policies.
A new U.S. president has taken office and his supporters’ expectations are beyond sky-high. Mr. Trump didn’t just promise to strengthen the economy, he promised a people’s revolution to bring back manufacturing and coal mines… and “unleash massive wealth for American workers.”
Renewing MEMBERS:
January 2017
The following members renewed their membership in January for another year. Thank you for supporting the Chamber — and supporting business in Niagara.
MEMBER
PROGRAMS
If you’re thinking of adding group benefits to your company, there are a lot of good reasons to put your Chamber membership to work for you. Not the least is exclusivity: only members have access to the Chambers of Commerce Group Insurance Plan®.
To contact your local insurance rep, call Jim Garrett or Cindy Haines at 905-468-8575
Try the purest, freshest water available — one month absolutely FREE. Experience the taste of clean water AND discover why so many homes, schools, and businesses love H2Only… it’s the service. No contracts, no set schedules. You call, we deliver the following business day. That simple since 1995.
Contact: 905-934-0966
sales@h2only.ca
www.h2only.ca
MEMBER 2 MEMBER SAVINGS PROGRAM
Many other Chamber of Commerce members feature discounts and special offers — tailored specifically for other GNCC members. Check out the full Member 2 Member database. If you’d like to add an offer for your company, sign in to your account. You can add and update your offer any time you wish.
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PARTNERS
