The Buzz starts off its first edition of Spring with an 11th-hour update on the strong slate of business owners vying for positions on the Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
The news may be out by the time this week’s paper hits the streets. (You can find the winners on the Chamber site at discovernelson.com.) If you’re reading the digital version of the column a little earlier, Chamber members can vote on their picks at the Chamber Business after Business and Annual General Meeting, that’s Thursday, March 27 at the Prestige Lakeside Resort between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Either way, drop in at the event after work for a glass of wine or local craft beer and a few appies. Bring along a colleague or a next door business neighbour while you’re at it.
Beyond who wins and who doesn’t, the story really is the strength and diversity of those business folk wanting to pitch in on a Chamber that always punches above its weight amongst contemporaries in small and middle-sized communities across the country.
Here are the board members aiming for re-election: Ravi Binning, owner at Urban Legends and Buddy's Place and Leaf Cross Bio Medical, Paul Cowan, owner of Cowan Office Equipment, and Nelson Star publisher Laura Gellatly.
As for the competition, those looking to serve on the board for their first time: Ashley Elliott, interim GM and HR at Kootenay Co-Op Store; Brent Holowaychuk, owner at Finley's and Sage; Clive Jackson, owner at Jacksons Hole and Grill; Linden Horswill, owner/GM Home Building Centre; and aiming to return to the fold, consultant and comms expert Stephen Harris, owner of ai-launchpad.ca
President Karen Bennett remains on the board as past president as well as Amanda Verigin from the Kootenay Co-Op and long-time business owner and former City Councilor Cal Renwick. Past President Paul Wiest stepped back from the Chamber Board in the latter part of 2024.
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Born in Germany, and educated in the U.K. and Switzerland, Grace Henecka’s got a great story to tell, and a noble effort underway on behalf of the Chamber.
The young go-getter, who’s got a background in both tourism and climate-related fields, is the Chamber’s Business Climate Advisor for the Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce. While we Nelsonites are getting better at managing our garbage — especially the trash that come from our homes — businesses are a different story. With the help of lowered RDCK tipping fees, Henecka’s been making steps in the right direction when it comes to commercial and business organic waste.
Want to learn more about that program and other Chamber offerings? You can, next month. There’s a series of Business Breakfast Networking Series running between 8:30 a.m. and 11 a..m at the Chamber designed to bring businesses from similar sectors together to connect and collaborate. Energy Efficiency and Cost Savings for Small Businesses are the themes for the first round of breaky get togethers. The first morning runs April 9 for Food and Beverage businesses. Office and Retail sectors are invited April 10, and on April 11 it’s all manufacturing and industry. More info? E-mail grace@discovernelson.com.
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Some quick highlights from around town….
James Gackle is the new owner at Phoenix Computers, where it’s business as usual following the sale by founder Scott Newland. … L&C French Bakery and Café has opened a second location on Baker Street, filling in the space left vacant after Zan Comerford’s Litework Digital Marketing departed the address. L&C also cook things up at their original location on Radio Avenue. … Packrat Annies, a definitive Kootenay biz if ever there was one, is celebrating 40 years this year. That’s a story we’ll definitely follow up on next column. … A story in BC Business outlines the fact B.C. breweries are worried an incoming tariff on aluminum imports will raise the price of beer. … Still on the tariff front, down the road in Trail, Teck Resources says it expects to find other trade routes for some of the metals it refines at the historic smelter if the U.S. goes ahead with the bizarre penalties. The company exports most of its copper and zinc concentrates to Asia and Europe and so would avoid the proposed 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods, if its sold outside America. Output from the huge Trail plant includes zinc, lead and specialty metals like germanium, idium, and sulphur products.
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Back to beers, baking and good grub. Ace chefs and restaurateurs Kyle and Aimara Dampsy took some time to figure out which of Backroads Brewing’s ales and lagers tasted best with dishes from their venue, The Block at Railtown, but they’ve managed to create some great pairings. The two hospitality venues are teamed up, with the Dampsys cooking up a little storm at the local brewery on a regular basis, if you need a bite. The Block has officially launched a catering businesses, and have a heap of bookings already for spring and summer.
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We wind up the column with a bitter sweet so-long to two friendly and formidable faces know by many in both business circles and the rural ‘hoods of Blewett. Visitor Centre manager Val Yowek and administrator Denise McInnes are retiring after 15 and 10 years, respectively.
“We’ve been introducing Nelson and area businesses to people in a lot of ways over the years,” says Yowek, on the thousands of holidayers and inquiring minds that have used the VIC to navigate our magical mountain town. “You can’t beat the face-the-face interaction when it comes to curating experiences for visitors."
As for the multitude of relationships they’ve built between the Chamber and the region’s entrepreneurs, professionalism has in many cases given way to friendships, McInnes adds.
“The first conversations start off very business-like. But then they evolve,” she adds, into jokes and good memories.
While the Chamber is close to naming its new hires for both positions, McKenzie Coleman and Codi-Lee Richardson have started learning the ropes. Coleman comes from the Kalesnikoff Timber fold, Richardson was with the Prestige.
On the sweetest parting note, McInnes points out that she and Yowek met on their very first day at Blewett kindergarten.
“We didn’t even know one another. Val leaned over to me and said ‘I’m so scared.'”
“I said, ‘Don’t worry, everything will be all right.'”
The pair say they’ve been taking care of one anther ever since.
“And telling a lot of people where to go!” McInnes jokes.
Have a good one folks, see you in April.
Business Buzz appears monthly.
