This is a guest post by Nevin Thompson Pretty much everyone planning to travel between Victoria and the Lower Mainland knows about the beautiful BC Ferries route between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay. However, not as many people are aware of the direct Anacortes Ferry link between Sidney and Washington State. The Anacortes ferry winds its way through the beautiful San Juan Islands that lie between the Saanich Peninsula and Washington State, and several sailings actually stop at Orcas Island, … [Read more...]
A New Way of “B2B” for Chamber Members: Excess Capacity Be Gone!
June 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Does your business ever suffer from "slow" times? Does your natural business cycle leave you overbooked on some days and then bored on others? Do you ever have items on the shelf that you just can't seem to get rid of? If you answered "yes" to any of the above, then you are like many businesses in the world today: you have excess capacity. What this means is that you're not quite as productive with your time, your staff, or your commercial space as you could be. That's a problem. Think of it … [Read more...]
How Global Trends Affect Your Business Decisions Today
May 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Whether or not you do business internationally, there is no doubt that global trends have an impact on your business. Being aware of these helps you make strategic decisions. The Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce is proud to present Peter Hall, one of Canada's most prominent economists, for an in-person presentation in Sidney, BC on May 17th. Peter will present as part of his national tour on Canada's Economic Check-up. Since this is Peter's first time to Vancouver Island we want … [Read more...]
Trends in Retail – Which Ones Concern Your Peninsula-based Business?
April 23, 2012 by 3 Comments
This post will explore 4 areas that small retailers should be aware of as well as act upon in some way. The Chamber is launching a seminar series around these topics, with the first being April 27th at 8:00 a.m. Please attend this free event. Invest in some “business strategy” and help us compete on a grand scale. The Long-Standing “Big Box” Trend. Big Box stores and “Power Centres” are certainly not new. They’ve been positioning themselves against traditional downtown … [Read more...]
The Marketing Mix: Where does “word-of-mouth” fit?
March 16, 2012 by 1 Comment
All businesses want to reach customers. They do this by developing a working marketing mix using the 4P’s of marketing – price, promotion, product and place. The promotion part of the marketing mix is the key component in reaching, educating and informing customers of your product and service. Lately we have seen diverse promotion activities from local firms here on the Peninsula—from buying advertising in print magazines and newspapers, to using Pay Per Click (PPC) ads through … [Read more...]
Chamber is Seeking “Guest Writers”!
March 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment
If you have some great advice that you think would benefit the local business community, then we invite you to submit a guest article to us for the Chamber blog! You will be given full credit for the blog post with a link back to your business or an email address should people want to contact you about the content that you provided. Each post is set-up for effective search engine optimization (SEO), and then promoted through the Chamber's social media networks. To manage the quality, we're … [Read more...]
Thoughts on the BC Budget from Chamber President
February 26, 2012 by
A Sound Budget in the Most Challenging of Circumstances By John Treleaven, Board President, Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce All tax revenue in this province originates in only one activity – a business transaction. There is only one taxpayer, the individual. Businesses do not pay taxes; rather they collect taxes for all three levels of government. This truth was not spelled out in the Budget. It should have been. As with most governments however, focus was on spending much more … [Read more...]
Sidney Company Featured in Cutting-Edge Documentary
February 15, 2012 by
Check out the clip below of the new TV series called "The EdgeFactor Show". Straitline Components is a Sidney-based high-end manufacturing facility with a unique product line range from precision bicycle parts to special projects with the likes of NASA and other world-class entities. See this recent article on them in the Times Colonist, and be sure to watch the episode below! … [Read more...]
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