(COQUITLAM) May 10, 2023 — Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce CEO Leslie Courchesne spoke at the City of Coquitlam's Town Hall meeting yesterday, urging Mayor and Council to expand the City's working relationship with the Chamber in support of business.
"The Chamber is a longtime partner of the City," said Courchesne. "We want to grow our partnership with you and ensure that we are thinking creatively and long term to keep this Chamber strong and growing, and a point of pride for the City of Coquitlam." In addition to commenting on the unique role the Chamber has in the community, and its recent growth, she complimented Council on approving the City's new Economic Development Strategy. She noted the that the Chamber was part of the consultation process for the strategy, and looks forward to helping with the implementation.
"We value the professionalism of the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce," said Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart. "And the fact that you have been so creative in building the membership and making certain that you're able to speak on behalf of your members to Councils across the region, and across the province for that matter, on issue that are important to business."
Councillor Dennis Marsden, a Past Chair of the Tri-Cities Chamber Board of Directors, said, "Leslie, I want to thank you for bringing back a number of things that the Chamber has done very well in the past, which is enabling business to engage with elected officials more frequently so they can do that advocacy work."
Marsden added, "The biggest compliment I can give to the Chamber of Commerce is... nobody does policy like the Chambers of Commerce.... The research and work chambers do to bring forward intelligent policy that's based on fact is commendable. As somebody who worked very hard with our local Chamber to build our profile on the policy front, I'm very happy to see that this is still a mainstay of what you do, and I truly hope it continues for years to come."
Watch video, approximately 6 minutes:
Video courtesy of the City of Coquitlam.
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Since 1971, the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce has been the largest business association serving Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore, and Belcarra, now representing 1,000+ organizations from every sector. The Chamber works to foster economic development, provide connections and benefits, and influence public policy at all levels of government to ensure strong business and strong communities. The Tri-Cities Chamber is an active member of the BC and Canadian Chambers of Commerce.
For more information, contact:
Leslie Courchesne, Chief Executive Officer
Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce
ceo@tricitieschamber.com
604.468.6870