A few highlights for the North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce over the past year, including the first full year of the Chamber being located downtown.

Executive Director Patti Carr also says their governance model has changed, which takes out political aspirations.

She says they’re getting back to advocating for business, “with all the challenges at all levels of government right now, we need to really dedicate our time and energy to that, hoping that businesses can get back on track and be a little more competitive,” Carr added.

One issue the Chamber recently got involved with is Cap and Trade, which starts in the new year, and it’s added energy costs.

They joined with several other Chambers in Ontario to call on the province to defer the start of the program for at least a year.

As for 2017, Carr says job growth and economic development are a couple of issues that need to be focused on.

She says, “we need to get people back into jobs and we’re no different than other areas in Ontario right now, but we certainly think that we have abilities to maintain or grow.”

Carr also says it was good to see the province finally recognize high energy costs are an issue, “this is not sustainable for our area, especially northern Ontario, we’ve seen even higher numbers and of course, when we’re losing jobs, we need to find other jobs to fill the gaps,” she said.

Carr also says they’re going into a five year strategic plan this coming year and are looking to bring in a policy adviser too.