Strategic Plan
Carleton Place & District Chamber of Commerce
Strategic Plan
2021-2023
Strategic Plan Overview
The Carleton Place and District Chamber of Commerce strategic plan seeks to enhance the Chamber membership experience, increase and improve public perception and awareness of the Chamber, build strong community relationships, demonstrate leadership in shaping the business landscape, and increase revenues to strengthen and grow the Chamber. The Strategic Plan will be updated in 2023 and presented at the Annual General Meeting in 2024 for approval.
Background
A Chamber of Commerce is the vehicle that enables people to work together to improve business – to build a better community and to develop better citizenship in the community, the province, and the nation. Although the local community is a market in which businesses compete for customers, the common intention of the business leaders is to grow and improve this common market. Their Chamber is the means through which they can work together to achieve this goal. Collectively we can achieve great things.
The Carleton Place & District Chamber of Commerce was incorporated as the Carleton Place Board of Trade on January 24th, 1916. In the last hundred years, the organization has changed and grown along with the community it represents.
Records show that the Carleton Place Board of Trade was started by 24 local merchants. In June 1970, the Carleton Place Board of Trade officially changed its name to The Carleton Place Chamber of Commerce. Today our Chamber boasts over 250 members that represent the community in all sectors.
The Carleton Place & District Chamber of Commerce has established working committees to carry out its Strategic Plan. Each has a specific mandate, expressing the Chamber’s role in business advocacy, delivery of tourism services, engagement and relationship building among the membership, cultivating a business-friendly culture within the community, and demonstrating leadership in community economic development.
In addition to committees charged with governance, membership services, and tourism, the Chamber plays an active and engaged role in community economic development and the cultivation of a small business support network.
This reflects the Chamber’s view of its role as an advocate for its business members and its responsibility to demonstrate vision, leadership, and action, as a driver of community economic growth and prosperity.