| May 9th, 2022 Moncton (NB) — The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Moncton (CCGM) elected a new board of directors at its 131st Annual General Meeting held Tuesday, May 9. After two years of holding the meeting virtually via the Zoom platform, the event was finally back in person at the Crown Plaza, Moncton. The outgoing Chair of the Board of the CCGM, Greg MacLean, recapped 2021 indicating that it was a profound understatement to suggest last two years were challenging. “We have lived through more than a full two year of the worst global health pandemic in 100 years,” MacLean said. “But like the City of Moncton’s motto – Resurgo – We Rise Again. And as a Chamber and business community, we have risen again after a difficult two years,” he added. The Chamber story of 2021 was again framed by our response to the pandemic. We continued to communicate to our members and the business community on the latest government programs and directives and communicated the needs and lobbied on behalf of the business community to elected officials from all levels of government. “One of the Chamber’s more significant contributions to coping with COVID was via the distribution of rapid test kits to business, which continues to this day. We have distributed more than 215,000 free rapid tests to 1,150 businesses, helping them keep their staff and customers safe,” said John Wishart, Chamber CEO. We also played a major role in supporting local business during 2021 via a $75,000 Shop Local campaign called Love for Local with the goal of encouraging people to think and shop locally. In 2021, the number of members again held steady even though the business community faced its second year of challenging times. The Chamber presented many virtual events, including the third edition of the Top 20 Under 40 Gala and the 36th annual Greater Moncton Business Excellence Awards. The organization played an important role with partners on key initiatives like the newly formed the Community Task Force on Homelessness and Downtown Security, the Southeast Economic Recovery Task Force and the Southeast Labour Market Partnership. In Advocacy, the Chamber of Commerce spoke more often and took a stand on several issues on behalf of its members, writing letters of concern, making phone calls to government, doing media interviews and working with partners in the New Brunswick business community on issues such as shopping local, COVID-19 economic recovery, homelessness and security, and workforce development. “On the advocacy front in 2022, we are focusing on four major issues – the housing crisis, the chronic labour shortage, population and immigration, and social issues such as homelessness and crime,” said Chamber CEO Wishart. The AGM saw the election of a new board for 2022-2023:Michelle Duffie – Lounsbury Group (Chair)Matt Carter – SMART Human Resource Solutions Inc. (Vice-Chair)David Adams – Medavie Blue Cross (Secretary-Treasurer)Mathieu McCaie – Expert Mortgage GroupBill Hennessey – Platinum Atlantic Realty and Colliers International New BrunswickKathryn Basham – Brainworks – The Growth AgencyStacey Stewart – NCM AssociatesCourtney Burns – Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International AirportShikha Sobti – Sai Krishna Food Services Corp.Georges Nana – AXXES Business Support & Co. Ltd.Jocelyn Chan –Mathnasium of MonctonDr. Robert Knowles – Crandall UniversityGreg MacLean – McInnis Cooper Shikkha Sobti, Georges Nana, Jocelyn Chan and Robert Knowles are new to the board. Leaving the board this year are Treasurer Carole Vautour of TD Equipment Finance, Glen Rollins formerly of Eastlink and now with the federal government, Terra Sollows of Wawanesa Mutual Insurance, and Past-Chair Geneviève Laforge. Greg MacLean of McInnes Cooper sits on the Board as Past-Chair. The three communities also have ex-officio members of the board. They are Kevin Silliker representing the City of Moncton, Tahlia Ferlatte for the Town of Riverview and Robert Audoux for Ville de Dieppe. The audited financial statements for the last year were also approved at the AGM, and three scholarships, granted from the Chamber Trust, were awarded to three students of the region, Taylor Carr-Babineau, Aidan Reynolds, and Alain Lavoie. -30- For More Information Rebecca Preston Director of Communications & Policy Chamber of Commerce for Greater Moncton 506 856-4004 | 506 888-0826 comms@ccgm.ca |