A common thread that came from our 2019 Business Walk was that the merchants in the area close to the orange bridge felt there was room for some improvements in terms of appearance and services. The Parksville & District Chamber of Commerce took the comments seriously and organized several breakfast meetings to discuss the business needs of the area. From those meetings, the ‘Orange Bridge Business District’ was created with the goal of working together to unite the businesses in the district.

Our first project is streetlight pole banners along the 19A and they are designed to both beautify and define area of the city referred to as the ‘Orange Bridge Business District’. We’ve come a long way with a beautiful design created by Robert Held himself! Kim Burden, Executive Director presented the project on July 15, to city council for their approval. The banners are produced locally and the cost to design, produce and install will be a shared cost among the business owners taking into consideration their highway frontage.

‘We see this as a first step in defining the district and using this as a template for other regions we want to work with in the region. It’s about working together with a group of businesses and creating something we can all be proud of that is inviting to visitors and locals. We’re anxious to move forward on the banner project and wait to hear from council in September’, said Kim Burden, Executive Director for the Parksville & District Chamber of Commerce.

Banner design:

The Parksville & District Chamber of Commerce and Qualicum Beach Chamber of Commerce received overwhelming support for their policies presented at the BC Chamber 2019 AGM and Conference held in Burnaby last week.  

The policies presented were part of the collaborative work done with the joint policy committee for the PQB region. The committee includes three members from each Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, along with Anne Dodson, CEO Qualicum Beach Chamber and Kim Burden, Executive Director Parksville & District Chamber of Commerce.

Jeannie Maltesen, President Parksville Chamber and Meghan Walker, President elect Parksville Chamber joined the Chambers executive, Kim Burden and Anne Dodson to present their polices and vote on behalf of membership on another 70 policies brought forward by the Chamber network.

‘The Thriving Orcas Thriving Communities’ – with input and support from 17 Vancouver Island Chamber of Commerce and the West Coast Fishing Guide Association was submitted with recommendations outlining scientifically verified approaches to enhancing Chinook populations and the Southern Resident Killer Whales without jeopardizing jobs and economic benefits from sport fishing in the waters around Vancouver Island.

In addition, we proposed an amendment to the local Government Act that provides Local Government with a choice to accept land or money during the sub-division approval process for either Attainable Housing or parks. The current act requires land or money  acquired during the sub-division process must be for Parks’ said Kim Burden, Executive Director Parksville & District Chamber of Commerce.