The Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce had plenty of reasons to celebrate in 2016.
The group moved into a new building and held a well-attended business excellence awards.
"Those would be our two huge highlights for the chamber," said executive director Brandy Maslowski.
The chamber moved from the Penticton Wine Country Visitor Centre to a new location downtown on Ellis Street, a move Maslowski called a “huge adventure.” The new location is more accessible to the public.
New in her role as Director, Maslowski was thrilled with how the business excellence awards ran this year. 150 local businesses were nominated.
"We boosted our attendance from 298 to 400 attendees, and and also added two new excellence awards, aboriginal community and business excellence and excellence in marketing innovation," said Maslowski.
Growing the chamber’s staff in 2016 was also exciting, going from two and a contractor to four employees.
Looking ahead to 2017, the chamber will have a whole new outlook to go with their new offices.
Maslowski said they have created a new strategic plan, where they will aim to deliver services with four strategic goals around membership growth and value, partnerships and stronger health and culture.
"The chamber has a clear plan leading into 2017," she said. "And the outlook for growth in our thriving business community is exciting."
