Nearly 20 past Chamber of Commerce Presidents in attendance
Nearly 20 past Presidents of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce gathered at Hotel El Dorado Wednesday morning to discuss the state of the City's business sector.
This was the largest annual gathering of past Chamber Presidents in recent memory, and included former Kelowna mayor Walter Gray, as well as Lawrence Salloum, who served as president in 1973.
Salloum says many local businesses are struggling to keep up with Kelowna’s rapid growth rate.
“I think the biggest issue is infrastructure,” says Salloum. “It hasn’t caught up with the population.”
Current president Carmen Sparg was also in attendance, and noted that the NDP’s speculation tax could mean serious trouble for the City.
“The effects that it’s going to have on our tourism economy and our overall building economy is far-reaching, and if it comes into play, it’s a deterrent for any continued efforts that our development community are currently doing,” says Sparg.
Another major talking point from Wednesday’s meeting was the issue of homelessness in downtown Kelowna, and Sparg says the best way to deal with the problem is by using an empathy-based approach.
“The perception out there is that the business community just wants Cornerstone to go away and wants to keep these people out,” says Sparg. “That’s certainly not the aim of our business community –they want a safe environment not only for businesses, but for the people that are living downtown in these conditions.”
