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Whistler Chamber of Commerce extends member survey deadline

Responses due by midnight July 12
melissa-pace1
Whistler Chamber of Commerce CEO Melissa Pace. Photo submitted

The Whistler Chamber of Commerce is looking for input from the business community, and has extended the deadline for its annual members survey.

The eight-minute online questionnaire is aimed at assisting the chamber “better understand how to serve and support” its members, and is divided into four parts: Your Business, Your Team, Your Chamber and Your Whistler. Responses are due by midnight on July 12.

“Our purpose it to make business easy for our members,” the survey reads. It can be found at www.surveymonkey.com/r/JHL22FL.

With business booming — Tourism Whistler recently confirmed winter 2016/17 as the resort’s busiest on record — there are still several challenges facing the local business sector.

Finding staff remains a struggle, an issue that is closely intertwined with the rising cost of living and Whistler’s long-standing housing crisis.

Last month, Chamber CEO Melissa Pace spoke about the difficulties in an interview with Pique.

“I don’t want to sugarcoat the fact that we’ve had a really busy year, and we’re going to continue being busy, but the business owners are struggling because we don’t have enough staff in resort,” she said. “In part, some of it has to do with housing, some of it has to do with affordable housing, so there are different layers causing some of the lack of employees coming to Whistler.”

Pace added that the chamber is “working on different strategies” to help address these concerns that are expected to come forward in September. The member survey will likely factor into those approaches.

The municipality has been pushing employers to sign up for its Home Run program, which matches second homeowners to local business owners in order to house their staff. As of mid-May, 22 employees have found accommodation through the program.

For more information, visit www.whistler.ca/housing.