Moving Summerside forward
Greater Summerside Chamber of Commerce rejuvenating Showcase into #ChooseSummerside
The Greater Summerside Chamber of Commerce (GSCC) is tapping into its roots for a new event this year.
At its recent annual general meeting, discussion centred around 2016’s wins and faults over coffee, tea and breakfast.
“Right from the beginning we’re starting this year behind the eight ball,” said GSCC president, Dan Kutcher.
“We are looking at around a $3,000 deficit. It’s not something we can’t handle, but I thought it was important make it known. Last year we had to cancel one of our major conferences that was heavily sponsored.”
Over recent years, the 117-year-old-business alliance has had to deal with declining membership and cancellations due to lack of interest.
“So this past year has been focused on the implementation of the things we learned from conferences we attended in 2016 and 2015. I see it as an investment, not a deficit, but only time will tell,” said Kutcher.
“We want to change our narrative and keep moving forward in our community.”
One example is the implementation of the Forward Summerside project.
“The project is loosely based on Ignite Fredericton. It was funded internally based on the idea that we must pull up our bootstraps on our own terms with our own investment if we wanted to get off on the right foot,” said Kutcher.
This year the GSCC is planning to rejuvenate its former Showcase event into an interactive, demonstration-filled marketplace under the title Choose Summerside, with the help of Downtown Summerside and Explore Summerside.
“We don’t want to call it a showcase because it isn’t like our previous events,” said GSCC executive director, Jane Sharpe.
“It’s going to be a familyfriendly day. There will be an area for kids to play while parents and caretakers can focus more on the marketplace and interact with the businesses.
“We went with the hashtag Choose Summerside because we wanted to give people the ability to see what the community has to offer.”
With the marketplace, participants can tour around the booths and see the businesses, products and services that are available in the city.
“We have a lot to celebrate in this city,” said Kutcher.
“This is an opportunity for residents, current businesses, tourists and others who want to set up shop in Summerside to interact and learn from others as well as gain an interest into the business side of the city.”
Right now, GSCC is gathering details for businesses that might be interested in participating in the marketplace event scheduled for May 9.
To learn more about the event, contact Anna or Nancy at 902-436-9651.