Cathy Tait took over the Southern Georgian Bay Chamber of Commerce with the goal of reinvigorating the organization.

Over the last 18 months, she says she has been working to significantly increase the value the Chamber provides its members.

“My mission over the last year-and-a-half has been to prove to members that there is real value in a chamber of commerce membership,” said Tait. “We have focused on a lot of marketing, a lot of promotional activity and have really been trying to drive awareness of the local communities and our businesses.”

Since arriving in Midland in early 2019, Tait has focused on improving communication with members, offering informational resources such as professional development workshops and webinars, and working to promote member businesses and the community as whole.

“We are really trying to build that community pride and community spirit,” said Tait.

Social media has been a big part of that. The chamber of commerce has upped its social-media presence and is using it to share beautiful photos of the area, highlight the region’s diverse history and feature local business owners.

The chamber has created and shared close to 100 videos of local businesses, detailing what they offer and how they’ve adapted during the pandemic.

“We want to introduce business owners and entrepreneurs to the community, so people can put a face to the name,” said Tait. 

A variety of new partnerships have also been developed with organizations such as the Heart of Georgian Bay, Tourism Simcoe County and neighbouring chambers of commerce.

When the pandemic hit, Tait began using the partnerships to ensure members had all the information they needed to survive the economic shutdown. Biweekly newsletters were sent out containing information on government supports and programs, and weekly webinars provided information on finance, marketing, social media and more.

“The work we are doing has definitely been noticed and appreciated,” said Tait.

The chamber of commerce office, located at , has been transformed into a business information centre. Tait relocated the office down to the building’s main floor in order to be more accessible to visitors and the business community.