TODAY We Announce the Finalists for the 2020 Business Excellence Awards |
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This is your last chance to register! The application packages are in, and judges are busy as ever for our 2020 Business Excellence Awards.
We're kicking off the festivities TODAY at 12:00 Noon with our virtual Finalists Announcement when we will recognize excellence and resilience within the region and showcase the organizations and innovative leaders that are the driving force behind Kelowna’s remarkable business community. We encourage you to join us, and invite colleagues and members of our community to help us honour our 2020 nominees and finalists.
There will be a draw prize for those who attend!
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BC Votes Decision 2020 - Kelowna Chamber's Virtual All Candidates Forum |
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With the BC election right around the corner, the Kelowna Chamber will be gathering local candidates for the upcoming election in three back-to-back-to-back virtual forums on Tuesday October 20, 2020.
The tentative schedule is as follows:
· Kelowna - West (9:00am)
· Kelowna - Mission (12:00 Noon)* TBC
· Kelowna - Lake Country (3:00pm)
The forum will be live streamed on the Kelowna Chamber's website at the times listed above. If you want to learn more about the election, or bookmark the page for your calendar, CLICK HERE.
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NEXT WEEK: Forging the Way Forward: A Special Small Business Week Presentation |
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Next week is Small Business Week in Canada. This year for BDC's Small Business Week, we are taking the time to recognize small businesses' resilience, trying to understand what has changed for Canadian businesses and look to build for the future in these uncertain times.
Join us on Wednesday October 21 at 12:00 Noon as Michael Denham, President & CEO of BDC highlights how this crisis is changing consumer habits and what the entrepreneurs are doing to adapt and position themselves for growth and success in this new context.
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Disability Employment Awareness Month: Strategically Elevating Your HR Practices |
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Join us on Tuesday October 27 at 12:00 Noon as we explore strategic employment opportunities through accessing a largely untapped talent pool with accessibility experts, Presidents Group and the Neil Squire Society. Over the past several months, the way that we work has dramatically changed. Employers have been adapting their business models to fit a “new normal” of remote work, shifting consumer demands, and increased flexibility for staff.
In many ways, the crisis has shifted our organizations and our concepts of work to align perfectly with the principles of accessibility. While the period has been hard for everyone, the increased accessibility is something we can celebrate and reap the benefits of.
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Membership 101: Maximizing Your Membership Investment (members only)
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Join us Wednesday October 28 from 9:00am to 10:00am for Membership 101. The event is open to any and all members of the Chamber as a refresher of your membership benefits, and members of your team are also welcome to attend.
Our monthly member meet and greet is online and a great way to learn more about your Chamber membership while connecting with other local businesses.
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UPDATES & EVENTS IN OUR NETWORK |
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UBCO Virtual Leadership Forum: Building Okanagan Flood Resiliency |
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Mill Creek and Okanagan Lake flooding have a major impact on businesses, tourism and land values in our valley. New approaches can and are mitigating these issues and will also radically improve our city’s beauty and liveability.
Join UBCO Wednesday October 21 from 5:00-6:00pm as they investigate vulnerability assessment tools, modelling techniques, and low cost, natural resiliency strategies that can and have protected our region and the challenges still ahead.
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Troika Management Names Rich Threlfall New President |
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The Kelowna Chamber would like to congratulate Rich Threlfall on his appointment as the new President of Kelowna's Troika Management. Late last week, the company announced the promotion for Threlfall who has been with the company for the past decade. He takes on the position after six years as the company's VP of Development. Congratulations Rich!
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Government of Canada Announces New Targeted Supports for Businesses |
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Late last week, the Government of Canada announced their intention to introduce new targeted, support to help businesses through the pandemic. The below list is a summary of intended plans to introduce legislation:
- The new Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy for rent and mortgage support until June 2021 for qualifying organizations
- A top-up Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy of 25% for organizations that had to temporarily shut down
- Extension of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy until June 2021
- An expanded Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) for not-for-profits and businesses
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Revised Health Orders for Food & Liquor Serving Premises and Gatherings & Events |
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On the 9th of October, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry released updated public health orders for food and liquor serving premises as well as updated public order for gatherings and events. This includes a new address to patrons of these establishments, in addition to owners and operators in the food & liquor service order.
To learn more about the changes to each order, and to download the orders in full, visit our COVID-19 blog on our website.
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BC Introduces New Recovery Programs and Grants, Applications are Open |
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The Province of BC has announced new recovery programs and grants that are now open, and ready to receive applications.
These programs are described in brief below, and more information can be found on our COVID-19 blog:
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The Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program (CERIP) providing provincial grants to support economic resilience, tourism, heritage, and urban and rural economic development projects.
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Small and Medium-Sized Business Recovery Grants of $10,000 to $30,000 are available. An additional $5,000 to $10,000 grant is available to eligible tourism-related businesses.
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Community Workforce Response Grant program called the Skills Training for Economic Recovery Stream, to provide short-term skills training to people impacted by COVID-19.
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Canadian Business Resilience Network: COVID-19 Information for Your Business |
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There's a lot of information out there. To help Canadians and Canadian businesses navigate the number of COVID-19 programs available, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce has developed tools to assist your business to quickly find information that may be relevant to you and your recovery. |
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NEW MEMBERS & MEMBER MILESTONES |
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Welcome to our New Members |
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Congratulations to our Members on their Milestones this Month! |
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25 Years
20 Years
15 Years
10 Years
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MEET YOUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS |
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Get to know the Kelowna Chamber's Board of Directors and Ambassadors in our new newsletter segment. This new bi-weekly update will introduce you to the people behind-the-scenes at the Chamber, and get to know more about them, why they got involved with the Chamber, and what they love about serving our business community. This week we want to introduce you to Annika Betts, a wonderful member of our Board of Directors. |
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ANNIKA BETTS | Sandhill Winery & Wayne Gretzky Okanagan
What is your position / title and company, and what do you do there?
My role is the On-Premise Territory Manager, Okanagan at Sandhill Winery & Wayne Gretzky Okanagan. I develop and maintain relationships with restaurants in the Okanagan, that offer our products on their wine list
How long have you been in the Okanagan? If you aren’t originally from the valley, what led you to call the Okanagan ‘home’?
I have been living in the Okanagan for just over 7 years. I was very interested in moving to BC after a trip to Whistler, so when my husband wanted to come back to Kelowna (he lived here previously) I said lets go! Having grown up in wine country, this was a very easy transition and didn’t take long for me to feel at home.
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What do you enjoy most about your role with the Kelowna Chamber?
I am a new board member, so I’m enjoying everything! There is a lot to learn which I quite like, and aspects about the Kelowna Chamber that I wasn’t aware of.
What are you looking forward to / planning for the future?
It’s a little hard to think about adventuring due to the current state of affairs, but I did have two weddings I was able to attend in September back home that I was very excited for! During a time such as now that makes you re-evaluate priorities, it was really nice to see my family and friends again.
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UPCOMING EVENTS AT A GLANCE |
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UPCOMING CHAMBER EVENTS AT GLANCE
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Need to add someone else in your organization to our mailing list? Drop us a line!
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KELOWNA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | kelownachamber.org |
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