Last year was described as a good year for the Belleville Chamber of Commerce and it appears this year is shaping up to be another busy one.
The Chamber held its 160th Annual General Meeting and election of officers at Aspira Quinte Gardens Friday afternoon.
Sixty-six new members joined in 2023, bringing the Chamber’s membership to well above 400. C.E.O. Jill Raycroft, who happened to be celebrating a birthday, said the organization would soon be ranked with large chambers as membership is expected to top 500 within the next two years.
Financially, the Chamber ended 2023 with a surplus of $25,427 on $982,000 revenue.
In her address, Raycroft listed some of the many events the organization spearheads, with the most well-known of them being Canada Day, the Waterfront and Multicultural Festival and the Santa Claus Parade. Relatively new but very popular events include the Diwali and Caribbean festivals.
Raycroft praised Belleville Mayor Neil Ellis for his “wise decision” to declare a state of emergency in February after well over a dozen drug overdoses in just a few hours took place.
“That move put Belleville and the homelessness/addictions crisis front and centre and we were able to convince the provincial chamber to stress to its membership how serious the problem was everywhere and how we all needed to work together to try to solve the issues. It was the Chamber and member former Police Chief Mike Callaghan that got everyone pushing for a detox centre.”
Raycroft said homelessness and addiction issues hurt businesses everywhere and the business community realizes it has a big role to play in addressing them. And just this week, the Belleville Chamber along with several others and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce discussed drugs and homelessness with the Associate Minister of of Mental Health and Addictions Michael Tibollo.
Meanwhile, 13 new officers were sworn in by Mayor Neil Ellis. The new president is Chris Auger of Trent Valley Distributing, the new vice-president is Lisa Comerford of Central Lakes Association of Realtors, and the secretary is outgoing President Dale Hoard.
Auger said he is excited to take over as president and urged the membership to get involved in chamber surveys and to not hesitate to offer any input on how the organization could improve its service to local business.
A strategic planning setting out a vision and goals for the new officers will be held next month.
New president of the Belleville Chamber Chris Auger of Trent Valley Distributing. (Photo: Quinte News)
