Notes from the Rotary Meeting 12.30pm Thursday, August 22, 2024

President Jackie chaired the meeting.  

 Guests and prospective members Dave Buckle and Luke Beaulieu were introduced and welcomed.

Jackie announced that the weekly 50-50 draw had a winner this week.

After lunch, Jackie introduced guest speaker Ray Brake, President of the Greater Corner Brook Board of Trade. 

 Ray began by speaking about himself and his working life and his strong belief in giving back to the community, He believes in networking, and this resulted in him joining the Greater Corner Brook Board of Trade of which he is now president.

He continued by speaking of the Greater Corner Brook Board of Trade, GCBBT, which was the first Chamber of Commerce in the province. It was established when the paper making industry was starting in the area. 

This not-for-profit organization is the voice of business in Corner Brook and the region. The GCBBT lobbies governments of all levels on behalf of its business members.

Today the GCBBT has a wide range of activities including being an advocate for issues affect the local economy and businesses. Ray gave an example of the impact of fuel tax on goods brought into the province and though that the impact on consumers.

He noted a strong business community is essential for this region as this helps to create sustainable regional communities.

He talked about the need to correct economic trends when traditional industries are declining. However, with the emerging of the green-hydrogen sector projects there should be projects and opportunities for the west coast of the province. The challenges will be to get approval for these projects, and it is important that due diligence should be done with transparent vetting when the projects are reviewed. 

 He then considered the tourism industry and the work done by operators to make this successful.  He looked at the provincial economic challenges and how the GCBBT had requested a pre-budget meeting with government to bring forth the concerns of businesses.

The last sector he spoke about was the need for opportunities for growth in the technology sector throughout the province. He feels there needs to be workforce development through training and education with a focus on retaining these trained students.

 Ray answered several questions resulting in a general discussion before being thanked by Verbon on behalf of the club.

 The meeting was adjourned at 1.30pm

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