Chamber's Report on Business - January 2010
The Future Has Arrived!
Les McDermott
2009 Board Chair
Make no mistake about it, the future has arrived. Yesterday, we were fiddling with personal handheld CD players – and as I’m writing this column, I’m listening to a digital MP3 music player (which also includes video, pictures, voice notes, and more) that fits quite nicely in the palm of my hand.
But have we arrived at the future? Are we adequately prepared for what the future may bring?
The New Year happens, and suddenly we collectively find a need to make our resolutions, to set wonderful and beneficial goals to better our businesses and our personal lives. Never in all the year is there a time when so many personal promises are made with the most amazing of best intentions, and yet seem to disappear into the mist of day-to-day realities.
Watch the number of joggers out there braving the cold to finally “lose that weight”. How many “Quit Smoking” programs will be begun this year? How many of us will say to ourselves, “This is it! This is the year I will work less ... or smarter ... to decrease my stress!” How many will succeed at their resolutions? Unfortunately, not nearly as many as those who started “gung ho” in January.
I’m no pessimist. I’m simply one who has failed miserably at some of my own resolutions. Fortunately, I also happen to be one who has succeeded at many others.
In the case of my failed ones, I saw the end goal without looking realistically at the road to attain it, and that ended up being a longer or tougher road than I was willing to travel. It’s no secret, really. It’s more a reality of life. To attain something big, you must normally start small, taking one step at a time. But remember that to attain a worthwhile goal, you also must never quit.
Nature always has the best examples. Consider the ant. Watch an ant and you’ll see an inspiring dedication. If it comes to an obstacle, the ant doesn’t sit and pout about it, or find anyone else to blame. It immediately finds another route and goes for it. The ant’s future comes one step at a time. And I challenge anyone to bring me an ant that actually quit.
So it has been with our Chamber board, committees, and staff this past year. We established several end goals and set about to develop practical step-by-step plans to achieve them with the resources we had at our disposal.
Among many achievements, we held great events to educate our members and provide them with networking and other business building opportunities. We worked closely with all levels of government seeking ways to help our members survive and thrive in a challenging economic environment. We submitted and presented resolutions to both the Ontario and Canadian Chambers of Commerce requesting them to lobby senior government in matters of importance to local business and industry. We are especially proud of achieving our “Target 1,000” membership goal since it reflects positively on the considerable time and effort expended by our organization in providing real value to our members.
My past year as board chair has been a very busy, but also very enjoyable, one. I look forward to continue making a difference during this, my last year on the executive committee. Thank you all!
Will it really make any difference?
Over the Christmas Holiday season the Chamber of Commerce broadcast a number of radio spots that informed the public about the amount of shopping that is done each year in the nearby Michigan area. More about that in a minute.
After hearing the Chamber’s radio spots that encourage local shopping wherer possible, a member asked “Will it really make any difference?”
The motivation behind the Chamber’s radio commercials was not to make those that cross the border feel guilty about doing so. The message was to inform the local consumers that business does much local good with the revenues they make from those that shop with them.
Local business employs your friends and neighbours. This is something that is most easily understood.
You may not be aware that local business also is a significant contributor to local schools, youth and charity activities, sports teams and the not for profit sector- be it culture or social services.
Business either has the money to sponsor these extra curricular activities or it does not. The fewer shoppers or customers a business has, obviously, the lesser the amount they have to contribute back into our community.
I was in Port Huron in November to attend the release of the report on the impact of Canadian shoppers in Port Huron and St. Clair County. The report indicated that Canadians living within one hour of the border spend about $57 million in their marketplace. They estimated that 700,000 Canadian visitors will come to their area in 2009
Most of the money was spent on shopping and dining.
I have had some people tell me that more people will cross the border once the HST comes along.
It is because of our high business taxation and regulations that our businesses have had such a difficult time to be competitive with the drastic price reductions that abound in the weaker Michigan economy.
The 2010 Ontario tax reform package included many taxation reductions that are the first steps to giving business a chance to be more competitive and at the same time make enough money to stay in business.
I had another person tell me that she heard our radio commercials and that they were an AH HA moment for her. She is a part of several not for profit groups in St. Clair Township and it has been most difficult to get sponsorships this year. She recognized that she can do her part to improve the situation if more of her spending and money circulates on this side of the border.
“Will it really make any difference?” Only your locally employed neighbours, your kids teams, your favourite charity can answer this question.
