With opportunities to open up small public gatherings again, Downtown Nanaimo is adding a ‘Corner Concert’ series to entertain lunch crowds and passersby this summer. Solos and duos will take over downtown corners near patios adding a new ‘live music’ vibe to downtown, celebrating a return to a more normal social setting with the pandemic […]
Summer is here, and Nanaimo couldn’t be a more vibrant and exciting place to celebrate the season! Although our usual seasonal celebrations – Silly Boat Regatta, Bathtub Days and Night Market — may still be postponed, at least we can now gather in groups safely. Family reunions, block parties and small entertainment events can now […]
Last week, tragic news broke of the discovery of the remains of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. On behalf of the Nanaimo Chamber membership, we express our deepest condolences to the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc peoples and all Indigenous peoples who continue to endure the devastating impact and trauma of Canadian colonial actions […]
Over the past 15 months, Vancouver Island has battled COVID-19 and felt the impact of the virus on our mental health, our economic vitality and on our community spirit. British Columbia has fared well compared with many other jurisdictions across the world, but still this battle has been exhausting and frustrating. We are all tired. […]
While I have some remarks published in the report you’ve all received, I wanted to depart from that and use my minute or two here to comment on some of the details of the year 2020. Starting March 13 last year, our world went into a spin nobody could have forecasted. At the Chamber, we […]
Chamber Executives from around BC met on Tuesday in our bi-weekly Chamber Coffee Chat. Of course, the main topic of conversation was the announcement by the Premier around new restrictions and closures – restaurants and pubs being the most controversial and challenging for all communities. We determined that we needed to speak on behalf of […]
In 2017 the Downtown Nanaimo Business Improvement Association suspended operations and businesses downtown quickly discovered the difference between having a group functioning to support business success and having nobody leading the way. Since then, different individuals, merchant groups, and the Chamber of Commerce have been contributing their energy to advocate for downtown businesses creating events […]
2021 opened up NOT with a clean slate, but with a continuing murky slate. The pandemic is a reality impacting everybody, including all local businesses, for nearly a year now. It’s changed all of our daily lives and certainly turned the Chamber’s world upside down. The Chamber was an organization that brought people together […]
