Chamber office on the move: North Bay chamber seeks return to its advocacy roots.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: NORTH BAY

The North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce is moving from a prime piece of city-owned highway property to the downtown core this fall.

After 30 years of being located on Seymour Street, just off Highway 11-17, the chamber will be taking up residence at the corner of Main Street East and Wylde Street.

Executive director Patti Carr said though the chamber only paid the city $1 a year to lease the building, it was mandated to operate both the Regional Tourist Information Centre on a year-round basis and the Dionne Quints Museum on a seasonal basis. And it was putting a strain on her three-member staff and the chamber's finances.

With no consistent flow of funds from the province or the City of North Bay, "we subsidize a lot of that cost and it's just getting harder and harder.

"We've been fairing okay (financially) but there are a lot of things we should be doing better in getting back to our core mandate of advocacy and value for our members. And the board decided it was time to make a change." With a restructured board of directors --shrinking from 25 members to 13--the decision was made to return the chamber to its core principles of organizational growth, better business connection, and providing more support to its members.

Carr said relinquishing a highly visible location and 5,000 square of feet of space to move into smaller digs of 1,600 square feet in the downtown core, formerly occupied by Dominion Lending, suits her just fine.

"I think it's going to be a good change because advocacy is my passion and I've been taken away from that. I don't have a policy person on staff and some chambers do."

It's also the best fit for the chamber to contribute to the health and vibrancy of the downtown and to be closer to small businesses, she said.

"We've been pulled in too many directions and we need to get back to working...