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Visitors Information Centre, business, in Pemberton, homeless animals, and hockey tourney thanks

Making progress in Pemberton It is approximately six months since my appointment as your President. I believe this is a good opportunity to reflect on the recent half-year or so. We now have a new Visitors Information Centre.

Making progress in Pemberton

It is approximately six months since my appointment as your President. I believe this is a good opportunity to reflect on the recent half-year or so.

We now have a new Visitors Information Centre.

We now have an office for the Chamber.

We are now heading the Spirit Of B.C. Committee.

We have increased our membership by 25%.

We now have our first Manager, Shirley Henry, who is now getting respect and recognition for the hard work she has undertaken over the years.

We have in the past few days, delivered a thought provoking presentation to Council, regarding the economic status of the Pemberton region and how we may work together and build on that.

We are about to host an amazing event, (The Pemberton Annual Barn Dance) that includes voluntary help from the following organizations, The Pemberton Legion, The Pemberton Lions Club, The Pemberton Rotary Club, The Pemberton Fire Department & The Pemberton Soccer Association.

All of this has been achieved in such a short time and could not have been done without the tremendous support and dedication of the current Board Of Directors together with support from   our membership.

It only remains for me to thank you all for making my appointment as your President, such a worthwhile and positive experience.

Paul Selina

President of the

Pemberton and District

Chamber of Commerce

 

 

Enough trash-talking already

RE: the chamber presentation to the Village of Pemberton Tuesday, July 11

In public relations and marketing, image is everything. Perception can shift the market, which rises and falls based on sentiment, as much as anything else.

The Pemberton Chamber of Commerce’s recent campaign (front-page headlines in the Question, letters to the editor, and presentation to local government on Tuesday 11 July) to signal a warning that Pemberton is about to get flushed down the plughole of the B.C. economy, seems unlikely to stimulate economic development in the region. After all, what investor, entrepreneur or resident is likely to invest when the Chamber of Commerce is sounding the death knell? Hiring an economic development officer, as the chamber suggested, is futile when the region’s peak business representative body is saying that Pemberton is the anti-boom-town of the province, despite the visual indicators people may see driving through town.

A business owner has several choices if their business is not doing well, and we’re all close enough to Whistler to know that the unprecedented growth of the ’90s has tapped out. Adapt. Respond. Diversify. Ride out the tough times with a tighter belt. Fold. Relocate to a place where it might do better. It’s a free market, after all. If it’s a boom-town you want, then follow the booms. If it’s a liveable sustainable community, then ride out the softenings.

Making front-page headlines about how depressed the town is, is not, in my opinion, the most constructive response, leaving aside completely this timing in the wake of the Silverthorne development’s third failure to get rezoning. It’s a business truism that you never let people know when you’re not doing well. What might serve us all better, create less conflict and hostility, and genuinely encourage enterprise, would be a chamber who:

• Hosts workshops and seminars so local businesses can develop skills that will help them better adapt to the market. A small business owner needs to be an expert in a million different things — perhaps the chamber could help plug the knowledge gaps.

• Collects accurate and timely data over long enough periods of time to show trends, to help businesses and investors with their market research, and the preparation of a solid business plan BEFORE businesses get started.

• Launches a Support Local campaign, whereby local businesses commit to delivering the BEST service, out-delivering competitors on service especially where they can’t out-compete on price. The local business community can’t assume people will shop with them if they don’t give people a reason to be loyal. Great service is what it takes. Being on the telephone when customers come in, doing sloppy workmanship, having inconsistent hours, being unprofessional gives people a reason to shop out of town.

• Helps incubate the cottage industries that are going on in people’s basements, garages, spare bedrooms: the screenprinters, seamstresses, bookkeepers, dog walkers, jewelry makers, potters, beekeepers, forestry surveyors, are all part of a rising creative class. Just because their receipts are small, it doesn’t mean they aren’t contributing to a thriving economy, and to a great community.

• Leverages 2010 as an opportunity to galvanize the community towards a common vision.

• Extends an invitation to local government staff and council members to attend chamber meetings, or to make presentations about the development permit system, rather than attacking them.

• Behaves less like an old-boy’s guild perpetuating an us-against-them mentality, and more like true leaders in the community. We’re all in this together.

Many of us choose to live here because it’s a small town. We elected to forego the amenities of bigger towns and cities because we perceived immeasurable value in not having to lock up our cars, in knowing our neighbours, in letting our kids ride their bikes to school, in riverside trails to run or walk dogs along. In clean air. In buying local produce at the grocery store. In personal friendly service, be it in the post-office, the liquor store, the health centre or the library. We chose these things first, and most of us knew we’d have to be creative with employment. If we were following jobs alone, we’d be where the jobs are. We didn’t come here to get rich.

Instead, we chose place. Any “growth” or “development” or business proposals need to start with an understanding of PLACE. If you steamroll over that, in order to make money for a select few, then your potential market of residents might really vote with their feet.

In advertising they say, “you buy the product, but you buy into the brand.”  If people aren’t buying, maybe you need to give them something to buy into.

Lisa Richardson

Pemberton

 

 

Focus council, focus

I appreciate Mr. Forsyth and the rest of council's efforts in condemning the Chinese government's actions against the Falun Gong. It is truly an atrocity what is happening over there. But it seems that if council has decided to play concerned citizen and will be writing letters on behalf of the entire town in the future, I ask that they use their time and effort to concentrate on matters closer to home.

Take the destruction of Eagleridge Bluffs and the Larson Creek wetlands for example. This is an action by our provincial government where Whistler is a crucial element. The reason for permanently destroying these lands is for improved accessibility to Whistler. The 2010 Games were supposed to be the most "green" and "sustainable" Olympics ever, and four years before the Games, we have a grim example of promises already broken. Yet I never heard of an official letter from council condemning this, nor any official remarks supporting the alternative tunnel, which would have left a much smaller imprint on the land. Especially when the Ministry of Transportation themselves cited the land as "extremely rare, unique, highly susceptible to disturbance and regionally rare."

So how does an action that is a result of the Olympics in Whistler go unnoticed by council? Especially when it is a direct contradiction of our sustainability plan?

Before council writes Beijing on behalf of our citizens, perhaps they should begin writing to Victoria. We need a lot of time and effort focused at home.

Steve Andrews

Whistler

 

 

What would Gandhi say?

My favorite quote from Gandhi is “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” I believe this also applies to a city, a village, or in our case, a resort municipality preparing to host, arguably, the greatest sporting event in the world.

So when costs for nearly every service and item are increasing dramatically, why would the RMoW cut funding requested by WAG (June 29, 2006 Pique Newsmagazine, page 28)? Why, when millions are being sourced and allocated to a multitude of projects and services, would monies be cut for such a critical need?

This is the best opportunity for Whistler and Pemberton to show itself to the world as a sensitive and caring community. It is also good business to care for its animals. I know a group who, after numerous week-long visits of spa treatments and shopping, commented they were no longer interested in spending money in a resort which did not take better care of its homeless dogs. They did not return this spring.

I support each person and business that steps forward to raise funds to help the homeless animals and I ask everyone who voted for funding cuts to the animal shelter to reconsider their decision. Does anyone think $13,500 (amount quoted of the funds reduced) will make a big dent in the budget overrun? It can, however, buy a lot of food for starving animals.

Carol Rowan

Whistler

 

 

Thanks Whistler International Hockey

I’d like to pass on a huge “congratulations” to Kevin and Jennifer Sopp and their team for their amazing work with the Whistler International All Star Hockey tournament.

Over the past month, the tournament has brought well over 1,000 youth hockey players to town as well as their families, coaches and relatives. As we search for new events and family-oriented programs to fill the shoulder seasons, this tournament has been attracting families for three and four days at a time for several years. The energy inside and outside Meadow Park is fantastic and the participation from both Canadian and U.S. teams has been commendable.

Creating an environment that incubates innovation in events and programs is essential and it is equally important to recognize the grassroots progress that has been made to bring families to Whistler and encourage athleticism and camaraderie. I hear constantly what can be done to improve the awareness levels of Whistler. Here is a perfect opportunity to do something. Kevin is usually working at Sport Stop. Drop by and ask him how you can help make this event become what he envisions.

Annual events like the Whistler International All Star Hockey Tournament are a testament to the vision and hard work of dedicated locals. Thanks for all your great work!

Mike Mills

Whistler