Respectfully conducting our Business within the Unceded Territory of the Hupacasath and Tseshaht First Nations
McLean Mill on the BIG SCREEN
In early April we were contacted by RHYTHM BOYZ ENTERTAINMENT (RBE) of Vancouver who were in the midst of finalizing plans for the filming of a story featuring immigrants to Canada from Southeast Asia. Their plans were to do the filming in Barkerville but then they learned of the McLean Mill National Historic Site. Hours after the call two of the reps from RBE were on a ferry en route to Port Alberni to tour the site. That was a Saturday morning. Within one week everything changed for RBE. They redirected their actors and support staff to Port Alberni for one week of shooting with upwards of 110 people on the site during that week. Fast forward to July when they came back to town to add extra scenes and clean up others. RBE expedited the final touches for this much anticipated film resulting in a July 29/22 release date across Canada.

See the trailer below (it does feature the McLean Mill)
The film is being released next Friday, July 29th but lucky us! Courtesy of RBE we have secured a PRIVATE SHOWING at LANDMARK CINEMAS here in Port Alberni for Friday, August 5th @ 12:00nn. The film is in PUNJABI with English Subtitles though I'm also told that about 25% of the content is in English. The film is a little over 2 hours in duration.

We are releasing tickets to the event through our website. There is NO COST to attend (other than the popcorn of course) BUT ENTRY WILL BE BY REGISTRATION ONLY. Please do not show up expecting to get in.

REGISTER ONLINE AT: Chamber website

The Chamber of Commerce expresses its thanks to the following for their support in pulling this off.

  • The Starboard Grill - in particular Brad, Kelly, Scott
  • Richard Spencer - AVCOC employee, Grade 12 Student in Film
  • Ian Staton - Chamber Ambassador - AKA the Security Guard
  • Best Western Plus Barclay Hotel, Hospitality Inn and all others who accommodated at very short notice.
  • Dewayne Parfitt - for initial tour of the site.
  • Bert Simpson/David Hooper - Western Vancouver Island Industrial Heritage Society
  • City of Port Alberni - Flexibility on site was appreciated by all
  • All local extras and support people involved.
August 6th - Limited Seating. Please consider supporting this event
And if the above events weren't enough! Look what else is happening August 5/6!
Bike S.E.A.T program returns (e-bikes)
The Bike SEAT program was initiated last year and we're pleased to confirm that it carries on! If you're over 55 we are happy to welcome you in for a nice test ride on one of our 6 e-bikes. If you wish to rent them we have that option as well. Please follow our website for further updates! At present we are offering the 55+ excursions every Thursday starting at the McLean Mill National Historic Site.
Recovery and Resiliency Fund
The Recovery and Resiliency Fund is a ground-breaking new fund made possible through a partnership between Government of BC, Vancouver Foundation, United Way BC, and New Relationship Trust that will distribute $34 million to charitable and non-profit organizations, of which Vancouver Foundation has contributed $4 million. 
This Fund will provide flexible, three-year grants of $50,000 and $72,000 per year to eligible organizations that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. $5 million of the Fund will go to New Relationship Trust to grant directly to Indigenous-led organizations with annual revenues of more than $1 million.
Read more to learn how we’re disrupting traditional grantmaking practices through this Fund:

The Local's Guide - coming soon!
Watch for this coming soon!
For the past number of years we have distributed more than 10000 copies of what we used to refer to as the "Adventure Map." Realizing that it's not really a map but more of a community guide we have rebranded it for our release later this summer. We have more than 100 businesses involved this year! See the 'old' version here; a picture of it only. It was last produced in 2018 and was due for refresh in 2020 but something happened that year....

Cover photo courtesy Chris Pouget - Riverbend Cafe & General Store
We welcome new Members!
We welcome several new members to the Chamber of Commerce. Thank you for supporting us so that we can support you! The links below are to their listing on our website. The bottom portion of the listing is referred to as the 'Member Spotlight' a feature that pops up randomly throughout our website; developed as a courtesy to our member community.