BCBusiness

TANYA GOEHRING FUN FACT In 2002, Litwin and three others drew international attention with a 110-day cross-country volunteering tour T hink chambers of commerce are stuy? Meet Val Litwin. The youngest-ever president and CEO of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, who succeeded John Winter last September, brings ener€y and entrepreneurial chops to his role. In 2007 the Victoria native co-founded Blo Blow Dry Bar, which now has almost 70 locations in three countries. Litwin went on to become VP of North American opera- tions for Nurse Next Door Home Care Services and CEO of the Whistler Chamber of Commerce. What does the B.C. Chamber of Commerce do? Our purpose is to know what's on B.C.'s mind. We have an incredible track record of listening to our members, understanding where the choke points are and working collaboratively with government to remove that red tape, to make business easier. But our most core value proposition is we have 36,000 members. Knowing what's on their mind—that's consultation, that's mak- ing sure we capture good data to drive better-quality insights to government, our partners and each other. Because at the end of the day, it's all about driving economic prosperity and ensuring we have more livable, vibrant communities. How do you plan to change things? We've got a couple of jokes in the cham- ber network. One is that the network is maybe stale, male and pale. Of course, that's not entirely the case on the ground because we have real diversity, and women in senior leadership posi- tions. It's a bit of an old reputation we need to shake. I think now, given the marketplace and where membership organizations are at, it's time for us to innovate. What I've heard from our members is tapping into a younger entrepre- neurial audience is important. Our network is saying we should do more for and be more to our First Nations business communities as well. One of the exciting trends I'm seeing is more and more First Nations people sitting as directors on our regional chambers and boards of trade. You recently commissioned a member survey. What did you learn? Ninety-two per cent of our members said their business is in acceptable, good or very good shape— which is a pretty stunning result, and I don't know that you would get that reaction from even our neighbours or elsewhere in Canada. Almost four out of ˜ve businesses said they expect to grow, which again is incred- ible. Thinking about where some of that growth is going to come from, we see a real awareness in British Columbia that inter- national trade is now a huge opportunity for everyone. It's not just for big business. Even that little ski-and-snowboard manufacturer in Whistler is asking, "How do I get my products into Korea?" How do B.C. business owners see their place in the world? B.C. is seen as a unique place, which has all sorts of exciting brand implications if you're thinking of taking your products outside of Canada. We're associated with quality, the great outdoors, unique products. We're one of the best places to do business in Canada— that was a theme that came out of the survey as well. Our governments are seen as pro- business, but the provincial government ranked at the top of the heap above the federal and local levels. Val Litwin The B.C. Chamber of Commerce head calls on business to stand up for resource development by Nick Rockel THE CONVERSATION APRIL 2017 BCBUSINESS 23 29% VERY GOOD GOOD ACCEPTABLE POOR VERY POOR 43% 20% 6% 1% You recently commissioned LOOKING GOOD The B.C. Chamber of Commerce recently asked almost 1,200 members to describe their busi- ness prospects for the next three to five years. SOURCE: B.C. Chamber of Commerce/ Abacus Data

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