Excitement was in the air at a restaurant in Brackendale as the Squamish Chamber of Commerce’s 11-member board of directors was sworn in late last week.
The newly-elected board includes small-company owners, business professionals and representatives from heavy industry and Quest University.
“We are very pleased to have strong representation from across the business community. Squamish is fortunate to have such strong talent and energy at the table, and we look forward to a successful and productive 2017,” said board chair Christine Campbell in a news release.
On the list are Quest University’s Kathy Bennett; Christine Campbell, owner of a bookkeeping business called C. Campbell Agency; Scott Campbell from GQ Investments; Luis Ramon Palmero Lopez from Oxygen Yoga & Fitness, a studio downtown; Kathleen van der Ree, a lawyer at Race & Company; Glen Suberlak from the video production business PinPoint Productions; Jamey Trewartha from HSBC; Robert V. Weys from Marx-et Management; Eric Andersen from the Squamish & District Forestry Association; Squamish Terminals’ Erin Yeo; and John French, owner of Sound Selection Communications.
French, an incumbent who joined the board as an unelected member in May because he was replacing a director who left mid-term, is listed by in the chamber’s announcement as owning Sound Selection Communications, where he Djs and MCs events in the Sea to Sky Corridor, including the Test of Metal, Squamish Triathalon and Squamish Days 10K Run.
No mention, however, was made of his ties to Woodfibre LNG, though he has been working for the company since January 2015.
The Squamish Chief asked why Woodfibre LNG, a liquefied natural gas processing and export facility that is slated to be built seven kilometres from downtown Squamish, isn’t listed in the chamber’s announcement.
The chamber’s executive director, Louise Walker, said this was because French owns Sound Selection Communications, which was then contracted by Woodfibre LNG to do public relations work.
The reasoning behind that was because he had originally joined the Chamber of Commerce as a small business owner in 2010, before he had ties to the liquefied natural gas company.
French said that he is there as a community member and is “fully prepared to make tough decisions that put the community ahead of my own business interests if that’s where I feel the priority needs to lie.”
“I think that in past years the chamber has maybe come away a little bit from being that vehicle of business supporter,” French said. “I’m looking forward to having this board of directors focus on making sure that the Chamber of Commerce is advocating for all business.”
Walker said French is required to keep his interests separate from his decisions at the chamber.
“When you come to the board you have to take off your own personal hat,” said Walker. “You’re there to represent the best interests of the chamber and the Squamish business community, not your own personal interests.”
Campbell said she would like to thank Denise Evans and Ian Davis, who are both stepping down, for their many years of service on the board.
A new board of directors is elected every two years.
