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You can feel it in the air—Spring is right around the corner.

While the threat of a late Winter may not be totally behind us, one thing is for certain: the Chamber’s March Business After 5 is sure to warm some hearts and help us usher in Spring, if only for one night.

We’re talking about Wednesday, March 21, and the place to be will be Smoke & Spice, located at 1399 Exmouth St, Sarnia, for an event hosted by Sun Life.

Be sure to limber up your networking muscles and get ready to make new connections, renew relationships that may have been hibernating the past few months, and bring on a sense of promise that only a gathering like Business After 5 can generate.

These are some of the greatest opportunities to create momentum that could last a lifetime, so don’t miss it.

We’ll see you there, at Smoke & Spice on Wednesday, March 21. The fun starts at 5 p.m. and runs through 7 p.m. Admission for Chamber members is complimentary. All others $10.

Don’t you dare miss it!

A limited number of sponsorships remain for an upcoming coffee table book designed to highlight our area in a visually dramatic fashion.

The book, titled “Sarnia Lambton Simply Sensational,” is being produced by Richard Bain, a renowned Canadian landscape photographer, in partnership with the Sarnia Lambton Chamber of Commerce. The foreword to “Simply Sensational” is being authored by now-retired astronaut Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian to command a mission at the International Space Station and who was born and raised in the area.

We expect demand for the book to exceed supply, with Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley and Lambton County Warden Bill Weber having offered their enthusiastic support for the project, which will be completed in the second half of 2018.

Richard Bain’s work has included a number of similar projects, completed successfully in partnership with several regional groups, including Chambers in Stratford, Niagara, London, Guelph, and Kitchener-Waterloo. Without exception, those with whom he has worked have seen positive results from those projects.

Sponsors—which may include businesses, organizations seeking visibility in the area, and local municipalities—will have several copies of Simply Sensational which can be distributed to clients, employees and others. Additional copies will be made available through Ontario bookstores or directly from the Chamber.

If your organization would like to ensure your spot on the list of sponsors, contact Shirley de Silva, president and CEO of the Chamber, directly at (519) 336-2400, ext. 1, or by email: sdesilva@slchamber.ca.

It’s almost time—for the Sarnia Lambton Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting.

In addition to the swearing in of our Board, we have two special guest speakers at this year’s event, which takes place Wednesday, February 28, 2018, in the Gateway Room of the St. Clair Corporate Centre, 265 Front St N., Sarnia.

Networking will begin at 6:30 p.m. and the call to order and formalities, including various reports, begins at 7 p.m.

Attendees are asked to REGISTER NOW for the event, a courtesy that will help Chamber staff plan for seating and refreshments.

The two special guest speakers at this year’s AGM are Dr. Katherine Albion, the newly appointed executive director of the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park, and James Temple, chief corporate responsibility officer at PwC Canada.

It will be a great time to find out all that’s happening at the Chamber and the exciting times ahead. We hope to see you there!

• Click on the following links to see a copy of the agenda and also the minutes from the 2017 AGM

The Hon. Andrew Scheer, leader of the federal Conservative Party of Canada, will be a special guest at the Chamber’s Business After 5 event that takes place Wednesday, February 21, 2018.

Scheer, who was elected as leader last May, is Leader of the Official Opposition. He is a former Speaker of the House of Commons (he was the youngest to ever be elected to that position, serving from June 2, 2011 – December 3, 2015). He has served as a Member of Parliament for Regina-Qu’Appelle since 2004.

The Chamber’s Business After 5 event takes place at the Sarnia Riding Club and runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Admittance is complimentary for Chamber members. Others can attend for a $10 fee.

The Blue Water Area Chamber of Commerce, our Port Huron neighbours “next door,” are extending an invitation to their second annual county-wide/international networking event, to take place on Tuesday, April 17, 2018.

The event will take place in the lower level of Sperrys Theatre in downtown Port Huron, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

While the event is FREE to attend, an RSVP is required. Click HERE to register.

Attendees will receive a list of participants as part of their RSVP.

If you’re a business owner looking down the road to the day when you can comfortably turn over the operation to someone else, the idea of an Employee Share Ownership Plan may be one worth investigating.

With that in mind, the Sarnia Lambton Chamber of Commerce has asked ESOP Builders, a member organization dedicated to helping business owners on a journey that would include allowing employees to acquire ownership, to host a workshop intended to help with the decision making process.

The workshop, which will take place on Tuesday, March 20, 2018 in the Chamber’s boardroom office at 556 Christina St. N., will include the insights of Perry Phillips, founder and CEO of ESOP Builders, and Marc Lacoursière, president of the Achievement Centre, an organization that provides professional development programs, coaching, and strategic planning to large and small companies throughout the world.

Phillips has helped complete more than 160 ESOPs for small and medium-sized Canadian companies over the last 20 years. Lacoursière has held senior leadership positions in both small privately held businesses and large multi-national organizations and will be speaking about the importance of “ownership thinking.”

Included in the $45 registration fee (Chamber member price) will be a copy of “ESOPs in Canada,” a book authored by Phillips. Non-members will pay $60 for the workshop.

Those attending will learn how an ESOP and ownership thinking can help:

—attract high-level quality employees;
—retain key employees;
—create a culture of employees who think and act like owners;
—improve productivity and profitability;
—finance an owner’s transition, and on their own timetable; and
—create a lasting business legacy.

The March 20 event begins at 7:30 a.m. with a complimentary hot breakfast followed by the presentation and workshop from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Register by clicking HERE.

There may still be winter weather in Sarnia-Lambton (no matter what your favourite rodent may be saying), but at the Sarnia Riding Club come Wednesday, February 21, it will surely be “toasty warm” as Chamber members gather for our Business After 5.

The event takes place at 980 Riding Club Lane, which is north off Lakeshore Road between Indian and Murphy Roads.

Networking can be one of the best “antidotes” to an otherwise dreary month. And here’s a tip: put the skills you pick up at Karen Minty’s “Stranger Danger” workshop to work.

We’ll see you there!