When a business acquires a membership to with the Huntsville/Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce, they are joining the leading business organization in north Muskoka, and for that, the benefits are plentiful.

When talking to a business about the value of membership, the staff and board members of the chamber are asked many questions. One common inquiry: what exactly is the role of the chamber of commerce?

Most importantly, the chamber understands why questions like this are asked. As a business, it seems everyone wants money from you. It is your job as a business owner to ensure value for your dollars spent. Nowadays, everyone is looking for tangible benefits.

The chamber of commerce offers substantial benefits such as direct business referrals, access to a great group insurance plan, reduced Visa rates, special member events, networking opportunities, and much more.

It is the intangible work that the chamber does that is difficult to explain in dollars and cents. Their work, often done in the background, is not always visible to the public eye. The core of the Chamber’s work centers on being an advocacy group for local businesses.

As a business owner, you have likely risked personal resources to invest in the community and area, in the interest of making a profit. All of your efforts are focused on your business. Yet your business operates within an economic environment.

The chamber offers your business the chance to employ 24 people for approximately $8.50 a year each to work on your behalf throughout the community and the region, ensuring the following:

•    That a healthy business climate exists where companies will stay, grow and expand;

•    That local public policy is business-friendly;

•    That the local business community has credible means by which they can communicate their views, ideas and concerns;

•    That local success is recognized and celebrated;

•    That the attitude is positive, regional-based and growth and prosperity-oriented;

•    That partnerships and alliances are formed with economic partners interested in achieving the same goals so that the business environment can keep moving forward.

The average chamber membership is $200 per year and is well worth the investment. Membership brings you 20 volunteer directors (all local business owners or associates) and six paid staff members who spend the entire year focused on the local business environment, ensuring your business is prosperous. With this kind of support, you can concentrate on your business, confident that the chamber will concentrate on the overall environment.

Another key reason for joining the local chamber: you are supporting economic growth and prosperity within the Huntsville and Lake of Bays communities. The chamber is involved in many activities and committees that work to increase the strength of the local economy by attracting new business to the area. They also ensure that the community is promoted as a year-round tourism destination through initiatives like the Marketing Our Community program where our tourism partners’ vision is that Huntsville and Lake of Bays becomes a premier Ontario destination. Our mission is ‘to create, promote and deliver a positive year-round destination based on our unique products. Our partners include: the Town of Huntsville, Township of Lake of Bays, Chamber of Commerce, Huntsville BIA, Algonquin Provincial Park, Friends of Algonquin, Huntsville and Lake of Bays Sport Council, Port and members from our tourism industry.

The external marketing committee is focused on marketing Huntsville, Lake of Bays and Algonquin Park to our target market(s) by developing a website (www.huntsvilleadventures.com) and marketing it aggressively. Tourism partners will be sought to leverage our marketing and media buys.

The committee will be developing our key partnerships and stakeholders identifying tourism brand, marketing concepts, our target markets and administration of the plan. We will create a program and unique style of communications that will market business long term and year-round, aligning all local communications to boost efficiency and effectiveness to market as one.

The events tourism committee is proud of the imminent Muskoka Ironman in September  and is working tirelessly to support existing events such as our national pond hockey championships along with Muskoka Cycling’s Spin the Lakes and so on. The volunteer database is large aspect of this project, but we are confident that it will lend great support to local sporting events as well as local organizations supporting our community.

Sport and event tourism has been identified as an economic generator in Huntsville and Lake of Bays. This program will be developed to grow our shoulder season and will ensure the inclusiveness of arts, historical and cultural events. The vision is to promote outdoor activities, with minimum impact on our natural environment, and will solicit events and activities that best fit our current resources.

The chamber sits on a number of committees geared toward enhancing economic development and community enrichment: Marketing our Communities; event tourism and external marketing; the economic development advisory committee; the Business Retention and Expansion working committee; Muskoka Tourism; the Downtown BIA; Huntsville Santa Claus parade; Small Business Week committee; strategic planning teams of tourism, civic affairs, etc.

Contact the Huntsville/Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce at 789-4771 or e-mail chamber@huntsvillelakeofbays.on.ca for information on joining the leading business organization in north Muskoka for the past 100 years.