The Greenwood Board of Trade and the Boundary Country Regional Chamber of Commerce have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will bring the two organizations together as they work to serve businesses throughout the Boundary.
A regional chamber had been on the to-do list of the Boundary Economic Development Committee for a number of years. But there were some hurdles to get over.
Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade are federally regulated by Industry Canada, and two such organizations are not allowed to operate in the same territory and in 2011 the Boundary had four such organizations registered.
The Greenwood Board of Trade had been around since 1899 and Christina Lake had their own very active chamber at the time. Neither group was keen to fold and be absorbed wholesale by the new organization.
In contrast Rock Creek’s organization was defunct and existed only on paper. And over in Grand Forks active membership in their chamber had fallen off and businesses in the city were looking for options.
So in the winter months of early 2011 business owners from across the Boundary met three times in Greenwood to discuss the possibility of establishing a region-wide organization.
By March of that year a draft of the application to Industry Canada had begun to take shape. To resolve the boundary issues it was proposed that both the Christina Lake Chamber and the BOT write a letter of support for the regional chamber and stating their willingness to share their boundary or territory with the BCRCC.
Stating concern that they would lose their autonomy the BOT turned down the request, while Christina Lake okayed it.
BCRCC’s application to Industry Canada went forward with the Christina Lake letter and all the paperwork necessary to dissolve the Grand Forks and Rock Creek Chambers.
By the summer of 2012 BCRCC was given permission to operate – their territory being the entire Boundary except for the City of Greenwood.
The new MOU is meant to ensure open communication and an effective working relationship.
“We have basically signed it so each member on the two boards knows what is happening,” BOT President Jim Nathorst said, adding that he and BCRCC executive director James Wilson had been talking for the past six months about the two groups working together.
“It’s an understanding that we are working together to make the region stronger,” said Wilson.
Wilson said he approached Nathorst after reading an in the Boundary Creek Times article about him expressing interest in working with the BCRCC.
Under the MOU neither group will solicit membership within the territory of the other, though individual businesses may be members of both organizations.
It is agreed that each organization is a member of the other and one member of each board can become a member of the other board with full voting rights, privileges and duties of such membership.
And finally the MOU recognizes the BCRCC as a regional chamber and authorizes the Chamber to provide services and resources to the BOT if they are regional in nature.
Nathorst told the Times the membership at the BOT agreed unanimously at their AGM on March 16th to support the MOU. He said it’s still to be signed.
“The Greenwood Board of Trade is looking forward to a collaborative process with the Boundary Country Regional Chamber of Commerce,” he said.