Since its inception in 1984, the Bowen Island Chamber of Commerce has grown to become not only the voice of business on Bowen Island, but a vital advocate for change and growth and a vehicle for marketing your business both on and off-island.
Our value to your business and the community is best illustrated by our level of involvement with local government and our success with respect to local initiatives:
In September of 2006, the Board of the Chamber formed the Banking on Bowen Task Force (BOB2) with a mandate to bring a full service financial institution to Bowen within the next twelve months. Six month’s later the Bowen Community Branch of the Powell River Credit Union (PRCU) was advertising for staff. A full service financial institution on Bowen is going to be an enormous benefit to local business, the community and to sustainability. We have the added benefit that this relationship with the PRCU allows profits from the Bowen Community Branch to be re-invested in Bowen.
The Chamber’s tourism initiative has seen a 250% growth in the number of visitors since we began keeping records in 2004. We anticipate that we will welcome 20,000 visitors through the Bowen Island Community and Visitor Information Centre (BIC-VIC) during 2007 and that total visitor dollars spent on the island will exceed $2.5 million. These visitor dollars are essential to the survival of many Bowen businesses and a necessary bridge to a sustainable economy.
As the voice of business, the Chamber attends most Council and Committee of The Whole meetings. We are currently assisting the Municipality in setting the terms of reference for business licensing, sitting on the Sustainability Framework Working Group and actively review and comment on legislation we feel will have an impact on the business community.
This year the Chamber held a strategic planning session. The participants defined a Chamber that must be proactive, inclusive and collaborative, a resource for the development of business and business expertise, a partner with the Municipality in those areas where we can benefit the business community and, my personal holy grail, a facilitator for an sustainable economic development plan.
Like so many others on Bowen, I am inspired by the possibilities the future presents us. We have the opportunity to create a community that is an example to the world of a responsible social and environmental stewardship within a vital progressive economy.
Join us.
