Steinbach Chamber hits national record

The Steinbach Chamber of Commerce has hit a major milestone, ranking as the second fastest growing chamber in Canada by the Chamber of Commerce Executives of Canada’s latest survey.

“We were very pleasantly surprised by that to know that we are in the top of the growth,” said executive director Tessa Masi.

This was the first year of the survey which found Steinbach had a membership growth rate of 16 percent. The survey found that 78 percent of chambers in Manitoba reported membership growth, more than any other region in Canada. Manitoba chambers also reported the highest membership retention rate at 96 percent. A hundred chambers completed the survey.

There are two reasons that Masi believes the chamber has achieved this ranking: the history of the chamber has created a solid foundation and the membership is incredibly engaged.

“They come to our events, they’re reading our newsletters, they’re informed about what the chamber is doing and I think as a result of that that’s one of the reasons that we’re having different businesses sign up for memberships weekly.”

Some of the benefits to being a part of the chamber include advocating for the business community, connecting the business community through the different events, and educational opportunities.

“I think the combination of those three things the business community is finding very valuable,” said Masi.

There are currently 530 businesses in the chamber and last year was when the chamber passed the 500 mark during its 70th year in operation.

“That’s something that we as a chamber had been working towards for a while and I would say other things that have been milestones have been the different events in the community that we have created along the way,” said Masi, noting the chamber has been putting on the Pioneer Day Parade for 58 years and the Taste of Steinbach event for the past two years.

This is the third year Taste of Steinbach will be held, having sold out in one day. “I was anticipating that, but I was pleasantly surprised that that was the reaction.”

The first year of the event saw 380 people sit at the long communal table on Elmdale Street, while the second year saw just under 500 people join in the festivities at the airport. This year the chamber has sold 608 tickets to the Steinbach Events Centre.

“I think Taste of Steinbach embodies some of what we see our membership really enjoying and that’s networking. They want to get together, they want to network with people, they want to enjoy an evening with their friends, connected to the community, and the fact that it’s something a bit different that they’re not getting somewhere else,” said Masi, noting it takes eight months to plan the event.

Taste of Steinbach will be held at the Steinbach Events Centre on May 27.

Masi wants to thank the chamber’s membership and the people who have stood by the membership for a long time. “Our growth is attributed to them and the word of mouth that they’re sharing with other people in the community and they’re becoming chamber members. And I think that our aim is to continue to serve our membership to the best of our ability and we’re trying our absolute best to do that, and to build something great within the community.”