Winnipeg chamber seeks to maintain, advance leadership role

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This article was published 03/10/2024 (596 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Members of Winnipeg’s business community have a responsibility to provide leadership as the Manitoba capital faces challenges with housing affordability, crime and its downtown.

Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce president Loren Remillard delivered that message during the non-profit’s annual general meeting Thursday.

Remillard was responding to a recent Free Press-Probe research poll that revealed the majority of Winnipeggers have a dim view of the city’s future and lack confidence in elected officials’ ability to fix it.

“That report to me was a reminder: yes, we have challenges, but we have a responsibility to lead,” Remillard said to the crowd of about 70 people.

In an interview, Remillard said one of the benefits of his role is he gets to engage with civic and provincial leaders and see the work they do.

“I see what’s happening, I feel what’s happening and I guess the challenge I walked away (from reading the research poll data) with is: how do we do a better job communicating that progress so that people feel less fatalistic or apathetic?”

Remillard teased a new chamber campaign that will “invite a new generation of business leaders to really answer the calls” posed by such challenges.

He noted the chamber’s long history of rallying the community and the role it played in making Winnipeg what it is today: 150 years ago, the chamber, known at the time as the Board of Trade, approached the provincial government and advocated for the formal creation of Winnipeg.

It’s a history Mayor Scott Gillingham referenced during his remarks at the AGM, as he expressed gratitude to chamber members for their contributions to Winnipeg.

“I and council appreciate your investment in the city,” Gillingham told the crowd. “What you do does make a difference in the health and the growth and the strength of our city.”

Also Thursday, Kevin Selch, founder of Little Brown Jug Brewing Co., was sworn in as the chamber’s chairperson.

Selch said his goal for the year ahead is to help establish an accurate and shared understanding of where Winnipeg’s economy stands and how the chamber can measure progress to create lasting prosperity for the community.

“Private-sector investment, whether sourced locally or externally, is key to driving our economy forward,” Selch said. “If we could start viewing decisions through the lens of whether they attract or deter investment, we’ll see and unlock new opportunities.

“From downtown development to reconciliation, crime, property crime, tax structure, permitting and skills training, investment is the lens through which I think we should measure progress.”

Meanwhile, the non-profit advocacy group, which represents just shy of 2,000 businesses, had an operational excess of $37,992 during the 2024 fiscal year, when comparing revenue to expenses. The number is about $15,500 greater than last year’s $22,453.

Administration expenses were up more than $200,000 year over year, which reflects additional operating expenses related to the chamber renovating and moving into new offices at 200 Portage Ave. this past summer.

The meeting marked the end of Jeannette Montufar-MacKay’s role as the chamber’s board chairperson.

Amanda Buhse, co-founder of Coal & Canary Candle Co., is the board’s incoming chair. She will replace Selch in October 2025.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca