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When Karen Fischer first arrived in Sarnia a little over a year ago, it was for family reasons.

But with her background in business and management, Fischer’s knowledge and experience have made her extremely portable, which means as a partner in RK Fischer & Associates she continues to build business relationships throughout Canada and beyond.

As a member of the board of directors at the Sarnia Lambton Chamber of Commerce, Fischer is also giving back to our community, offering insights into best practices in business and a unique perspective.

Having built a career that has included marketing, sales management and executive roles at some of Canada’s leading telecom and software companies, Fischer is also an accomplished management consultant and educator, having recently taught digital tools at Lambton College, and before that, digital marketing Durham College just east of Toronto.

Since moving to the Sarnia-Lambton area, Fischer, who works with her husband Rudy (the “R” in RK Fischer & Associates), has increased her network connections and volunteers as a member of the Chamber’s Business After 5 committee in addition to her board duties. She is also a volunteer mentor for the Cube, the incubator program at Lambton College.

We’re happy to have her in the area and grateful for her unique contributions to the board of directors.

NOVA Chemicals, which won the “Business of the Year” honours at the Chamber’s 2018 Outstanding Business Achievement Awards gala, has been busy working on its $2.2 billion expansion since the announcement of a doubling of its polyethylene capacity was made about a year ago.

The proud Chamber member has marked that anniversary with an update (and a video) that highlights some of the changes that are taking shape at its new Rokeby site in St. Clair Township.

With preliminary work started in late 2017, since then the site has undergone a dramatic transformation.

Highlights include:

—A berm that was built to mitigate sound coming from the future facility.

—Trucks have delivered over 60,000 tonnes of gravel to create roadways and parking lots on-site.

—Rokeby Line was upgraded to accommodate increased traffic volumes.

—The new main access road into the site was built and opened.

—Piling work continues to lay the foundation of the new facility.

—1,200 trees have been planted and a natural woodlot is starting to take shape, designed to recreate the woodland features previously in the area before construction began.

As part of the update, NOVA officials talked about how important staying in touch with the community continues to be.

“Being a good neighbour in our community is an important goal for us. With construction ramping up, our desire to achieve this goal is stronger than ever. Our Good Neighbour Program establishes our specific commitments and actions to manage the impact of our construction activities. We and our contractors are all committed to strategies that proactively consider impacts and opportunities for stakeholders and build positive community relations.”

NOVA officials say they expect to be completing on-site parking lots and roadways and delivering cement to progress foundations. They will also be continuing with tree planting and the beginning of equipment deliveries, including structural steel.

The company has produced a YouTube video, which can be seen below, to show how construction is progressing.

Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development has responded to Sarnia Lambton Chamber of Commerce officials on a request for the government to create a national bioeconomy framework and continue to support bioindustrial companies and projects through business accelerators and venture capitalists.

Minister Navdeep Bains said the government is incorporating the input of the Chamber and its members into its action plans.

“The Innovation and Skills Plan adopts a multifaceted approach,” said Bains in a letter to Chamber CEO Shirley de Silva and Board Chair Charles Fisher. “In particular, innovation support programs were expanded to new areas, including bioscience industries, as part of the Strategic Innovation Fund, and investments for the clean technology sector were increased substantially.”

Bains also pointed to the government’s $1.89 million in spending around transforming bio-mass into value-added products, including advanced biofuels.

He reminded business leaders, through his letter, of last January’s launch of the Clean Growth Hub. That initiative has a mandate to help clean technology producers and users navigate clean technology programs.

Bains suggested that members email the Hub’s team of experts if they would like to receive more information about the Clean Growth Hub.

Shirley de Silva said it’s important that the Chamber initiate discussions such as this on an ongoing basis to remind government officials at all levels of the views of business.

When Jon McEachran returned to Sarnia-Lambton a few years ago, it was after attending university in Utah and working in the insurance business even further away from home.

With family being one of his strongest values, McEachran jumped at the chance to return home, going into business with his entrepreneur father in buying the Chemical Valley assets of Fiberglas Canada and building out Vidal Street Industrial Park, a venture that became a very successful rail logistics company.

That was 2005 and the company grew over the years, eventually expanding into Corunna with the purchase of land occupied by the former Ethyl Canada manufacturing site.

Along the way, McEachran, like his father an entrepreneur at heart, also won a seat on Sarnia City Council and served for two terms before the time crunch involved in the business made that impractical.

In 2017, he joined the board of the Sarnia Lambton Chamber of Commerce, not long after he and his father, Ross McEachran, sold their shares in VIP Rail.

Today, McEachran continues to exercise his entrepreneurial muscle through Stag Island Investments, a company he formed after leaving VIP.

As far as his future is concerned, one thing remains clear: Sarnia-Lambton is home and we can expect to see more action down the road as he seeks to contribute to the growth of the community.

If you’re a business in the transportation industry, do you feel there is a lack of available training to adequately prepare workers?

The Sarnia Lambton Chamber of Commerce Trade Corridor Task Force is gathering input that may be used to design a post-secondary program and we want to hear from you.

Please complete a quick survey (available HERE) to help us understand your training needs.

Questions and comments about this survey can be sent to Monica Shepley, manager of Advocacy and Policy Development, mshepley@slchamber.ca.