chamber 2015 meetingThe Timmins Chamber of Commerce highlighted a full year’s worth of successes for the business community during the organization’s 66th Annual General Meeting and President’s Dinner on Sept. 23.

Hosted at the Porcupine Dante Club, the event allowed more than 120 attendees to hear from immediate past president Al Thorne about the Chamber’s achievements through 2014-2015 in service of its nearly 750 members.

This included hosting more than 50 events in order to provide education and networking opportunities to local businesses, while offering more than 70 discounts to help members with their bottom line. This year also saw the Timmins Chamber achieve many policy and advocacy victories for members on such issues as the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan, mining taxation, energy rates and labour market information, due in part to the Chamber’s provincial and federal partnerships.

The event also highlighted some local successes celebrated by the Chamber in 2014-2015, such as working with the City to provide better opportunities to member businesses seeking to sell them goods and services, and successfully urging City Council to conduct a core services review. Due to be completed in mid-October, this review will allow the City to discover potentially significant savings for taxpayers, improve productivity, and identify opportunities for partnerships with the private sector.

These successes also included the members’ election of a strong Board of Directors for 2015-2016, which joined Chamber President Kurt Bigeau of Sun Life Financial in being officially sworn in by Timmins’ Deputy Mayor Noella Rinaldo as part of the evening’s proceedings.

The annual general meeting also served to recognize individuals and businesses that have made significant contributions to the Chamber and the business community.

This year’s Service Award was given to Claude J. Gagnon of Claude J. Gagnon Professional Photography, in recognition of his six years of dedicated service to the Chamber’s board of directors — the maximum amount of time someone can consecutively serve.

“This is obviously a major investment of time and energy, and Claude has been steadfast throughout these many years in providing plenty of both to help advance the interests of businesses throughout our region,” said Thorne.

“His presence at the Board level has always been appreciated.”

The Chamber also named Gagnon the recipient of this year’s Alex Klimack Award, which serves to recognize an outstanding volunteer for their hard work and commitment not only to the Chamber but the community as a whole. Gagnon dedicated countless hours in 2014-2015 to supporting the Chamber and its members through his tireless work on making it easier for employers to attract staff, on helping downtown businesses to better attract clientele, and on ways that the Timmins 2020 plan can better support the overall economy.

“Claude has long been an extremely active and vocal proponent on a broad range of business issues, and his years of sitting on and leading Chamber committees have quite rightfully given him a reputation as a strong advocate for Timmins’ business community,” said Thorne. “He has also been a tremendous representative for the Chamber by promoting the organization, participating in countless events, supporting our members, and generally serving as a forceful, positive voice for change. The impact of the work that he has invested will be felt by the Chamber, our members, and the business community for years to come.”