After a three-year hiatus, an Enderby business network has been resurrected.
Dozens of people filled the Cardiff Miller Art Warehouse April 25 for the re-launch of the Enderby and District Chamber of Commerce, which had been dormant since 2021.
“Businesses need a voice and someone to listen, so our organization is about listening to what our businesses need and want,” newly elected chamber president Diane Hutchison told The Morning Star. Hutchison is the co-owner of Miska Haven Bed and Breakfast in Ashton Creek, alongside her husband Dave.
The chamber has elected seven new board members and is already growing its membership. In addition to Hutchison, the board members are Nik Vischschraper (vice president), Andrew Van Dokkumburg (treasurer), Tanya Carre (secretary), Jody Fobe, Ryan Sheepwash and Stuart Anderson.
Hutchison said three years ago the Enderby chamber suffered a “slow death,” but the newly formed team has its sights set on the future and how local businesses can be better accommodated going forward.
Seven months ago, a group of 25 local businesses came together and expressed the desire to bring back the chamber. A small start-up committee was formed in October and it worked on plans to establish a new organization and membership structure, obtain funding for permanent staff positions, build a website with a business directory and contact database, and launch social media, newsletter and email communications.
Gradually, the chamber was re-formed, thanks in part to guidance from the Downtown Vernon Association and Community Futures North Okanagan.
“I think the city is excited that it’s up and running,” Enderby mayor Huck Galbraith said at the event. “It’s going to be a really good thing for the community, and we’ve been waiting for it for a while.”
Galbraith said the city conducted multiple rounds of discussions with businesses and found a “large majority” were in favour of reinstating a chamber of commerce in Enderby.
The chamber has already surpassed 50 per cent of its membership goal for the year with 27 new members joining since the relaunch event, which doubled as a membership drive.
“I think it’s really important for our town to have an organization that supports and advocates and connects us all,” Hutchison said. “It’s about helping provide leadership and offering networking opportunities to our businesses.”
Hutchison said local businesses are still recovering from the pandemic and could use the support of an umbrella business organization. Employee retention is one of the bigger concerns businesses have, adding Enderby needs to be attracting people so that businesses have employees to hire.
There is “a lot of good energy in this town right now,” she said, and the chamber’s goal is to capitalize on that energy.
Hutchison adds, there is an appetite among local businesses for collaboration. She pointed to Shelley Verlaan, owner of Soapolallie Soapworks, as a business owner who has been “a major proponent of supporting local businesses” during the three years the city was without a chamber.
She said more events like the relaunch — which was similar to the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce’s Business After 5 events — will be hosted going forward.
The chamber’s membership fee for the remainder of 2024 has been set at a reduced rate of $100. Businesses both within and outside Enderby can sign up.
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