‘It’s a great organization and I’m proud to be part of it’

New chamber president sees good things happening at Strait area

PORT HAWKESBURY — The new president of the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce says there are good things happening in the Strait area and he wants to promote that to those who may be interested in doing business in the region.

“I see a lot of good things happening in the Strait,” Adam Rodgers said. “There’s a lot of investment around the Strait itself, but one thing that I thought I could contribute could be to just have a little bit more of a positive image of the Strait area projected out to the investment public ... I just wanted to sort of change attitudes about our area in particular and Cape Breton in general.”

Rodgers was elected president at the chamber’s annual general meeting last week. He replaces businessman Parker Stone, who served in the position for two years.

Rodgers is a native of Guysborough Intervale. He graduated from Acadia University and went on to work in finance in Toronto for a few years and then went to work for the regional development authority in Guysborough County. He later obtained a law degree from Dalhousie and is now a partner in the firm Boudrot Rodgers, which has offices in Port Hawkesbury, Inverness and Antigonish. His practice includes civil, criminal and family law and serves as legal counsel for two municipalities.

“When I first got here, it was sort of a natural thing to start going to chamber meetings with a couple of the other lawyers at the office, I enjoyed that, felt welcome and wanted to use my background to contribute somehow,” Rodgers said.

He has served on the chamber’s board for several years.

Rodgers noted the chamber has a good tradition of strong attendance and drawing members to events from throughout the counties it serves.

“It’s a great organization and I’m proud to be part of it,” he said.

The region’s economy is in transition, with the loss of half the jobs that were once associated with the Point Tupper paper mill, but Rodgers noted there are also other positive stories involving players such as Superport Marina Services, the Melford Terminal, growth at the Strait area campus of the Nova Scotia Community College and the mill is also exploring potential new opportunities.

Rodgers said his priorities include working with potential investors and co-operating with the Strait area campus, with which the chamber signed a memorandum of understanding last week. He also wants the chamber to engage with First Nation entrepreneurs and professionals and improve those relationships.