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Chamber wraps 2011 with new president/executive
The Cranbrook and District Chamber of Commerce has a new president and executive.
Chamber Nomination Committee chair Jeanette Sissons Dec. 14 announced, during the monthly luncheon at the Heritage Inn, that Lana Kirk (pictured above) will be the next president and Mike Adams (Taylor Adams, chartered accountants) will become the next vice president.
Sissons conducted the installation of the chamber executive and directors as a portion of the chamber’s Christmas luncheon, also naming Dave Butler (Canadian Mountain Holidays) as second vice-president.
Sissons(CIBC), the chamber’s next treasurer, also announced Sean Campbell as past president, before naming the following as directors: Jim Benson (Scotia Bank), Alyson Blake (St. Eugene Resort & Casino), Chris Botterill (Genex Marketing), Tristen Chernove (Canadian Rockies International Airport), Ryan Gibbard (McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd.), Ted Lauriston (Alpine Toyota), Karla Shalley (Playpen Pet Boarding and Grooming), Connor Stewart (Staples), David Struthers (Interior Reforestation Co. Ltd.) and Tracey Whiting (College of the Rockies).
She also invited nominations from the floor, with roughly 160 chamber members in attendance. No further nominations came forward and the above group was named as the 2012 Chamber Executive.
Outgoing president Sean Campbell said circumstances gave him the “rare opportunity” to serve two straight terms as a chamber president and believes the chamber and its staff “has far exceeded” expectations.
The chamber thanked and recognized outgoing executive members but Melanie Fiorentino and Liz Schatschneider stood out in the honours.
Campbell said Fiorentino has been a tirelessly involved chamber member and “has been a mentor to many of us and her expertise has been invaluable to the board.”
He noted that Schatschneider, who was the City of Cranbrook council’s chamber representative the past 12 years, went about business with “very positive, sometimes humorous and always with a smile. Her dedication to Cranbrook is indeed something we can all be thankful for and proud of.”
Campbell said ‘Councillor Liz’s’ civic involvement and “community spirit” is inherited from her parents, Bud and Maxine Caldwell.
Along with naming a new executive, the Cranbrook Chamber honoured members that passed 2011 with perfect meeting attendance: Aaron’s, City of Cranbrook, Kootenay News Advertiser, Cranbrook Daily Townsman, Jim Pattison Broadcast Group, BDC Business Development Centre, Columbia Basin Trust, College of the Rockies, East Kootenay Community Credit Union, JCI Kootenay, HSBC, Koocanusa Publications, Scotiabank, Taylor Adams, the Cranbrook Public Library and Jason & Christy Wheeldon.
Along with the formalities of the meeting, once again sponsored by Nutters Bulk and Natural Foods, the chamber announced its annual Citizen of the Year as Chris Ayling, chair of Cranbrook Connected. (Please see upcoming separate story.)
And as has become a tradition the past three years, Cranbrook writer and communicator Tanya Laing Gahr took the luncheon attendees on an equally humorous, poignant, real and heartfelt journey of words and song (please see her awesome words at: https://www.e-know.ca/politics/cranbrook/a-christmas-reminder-that-cranbrook-is-trending-family-ward/)
Fittingly, the final meeting of 2011 ended with chamber manager Karin Penner deeming it so.
“Our board of directors has excelled in so many ways,” she said, reminding members of the chamber being honoured as Chamber of the Year in B.C. last year.
“That’s not about the directors – not about the staff – it’s you (the members),” she said, concluding with a salute to the outgoing president.
“Sean has been an outstanding president,” she said.
Ian Cobb/e-KNOW
