Championing the Columbia Valley

The executive director of the Columbia Valley Chamber of Commerce promotes success for small businesses

1 of 1The Columbia Valley Chamber of Commerce supports businesses throughout the region. — Photo courtesy Columbia Valley Chamber of Commerce

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The mandate of the Columbia Valley Chamber of Commerce (CVCC), of which Susan Clovechok is executive director, is to provide the 270 chamber members with support, education and advocacy, including opportunities to network and to promote and build their businesses.

Clovechok’s background in corporate training, leadership development, sales and marketing qualifies her to fill the leadership position for the CVCC, and her past involvement in other area chambers—as well as six months on the board of the CVCC—have equipped her with first-hand understanding of the chamber’s role and responsibilities.

A woman of many hats

After two years as CVCC executive director, Clovechok is enjoying her job. Among other activities, she networks with local business people; she organizes events to increase business visibility; she talks to potential investors and new residents; and she manages the chamber’s website and social media. Having to constantly switch her focus can be a challenge.

“We are a rural and a regional chamber with a staff of just two—Jackie Lysak is the manager of the visitor centre, also housed in this building—so I need to change my focus all the time,” Clovechok said. “I would like to be able to provide the same value and service to our members that the larger chambers do.”

High-profile October

During October, Small Business Month across Canada, the CVCC co-ordinated events to support the area’s businesses. The annual Turn Copper into Gold golf tournament presented business people with an opportunity to network and have some fun while supporting CVCC’s biggest fundraiser of the year—this is where the majority of funds come from to pay the mortgage and maintain the CVCC building.

Clovechok arranged for several high-profile speakers to address chamber members through the month of October. Tess Menges, supply officer from the federal government, met with chamber members to explain how small businesses can bid on contracts to tap into the billions that the government spends annually. Barry O’Neill, president of CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) B.C., visited the CVCC to promote the concept of the 10 per cent shift: moving 10 per cent of what we spend outside the community—say, in restaurants or clothing stores—back into the community. Naomi Yamamoto, B.C's minister of state for small business, was also a featured speaker during October.

Getting everyone involved

“On November 15 and 16, in partnership with College of the Rockies, we offered our community in-service course,” said Clovechok. “Every person in the community has a role to play in having our visitors stay longer and come back again,” she said. “For every dollar spent in the community, 75 cents stay here. If visitors feel welcome, if the people they encounter here are pleasant and engaging, it has a direct influence on how much time and money they will spend in the community.”

Future benefits

Clovechok goes out of her way to access future benefits for the Columbia Valley. When the provincial finance ministry recently invited the public to make presentations to the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services for consideration in the 2013 budget, Clovechok decided to step up. On September 18 she went before a panel of MLAs in Cranbrook and spoke about issues that she believes impact the Columbia Valley: land use processes, tourism infrastructure, the carbon tax and the property transfer tax.

Clovechok keeps a couple of questions in front of her to keep her moving forward: What’s in the way of our members being successful? How can the chamber help remove those barriers? She said that the mandate of the chamber is her inspiration.