Chamber of Commerce For Goderich, North Huron, and Central Huron Attracts 40 To BIA Summit

by Bob Montgomery

Chamber Executive Director Colin Carmichael says the BIA Summit is designed to provide insight into the unique functions and benefits of BIAs that distinguish them from other economic development organizations.

Carmichael points out most BIA members are volunteers who are very busy running their own businesses, so their spare time is limited, which means an event like this is an opportunity to help them make the most of their spare time and show them how a BIA can be run. Carmichael says most BIAs have at least one issue that they're not sure how to deal with and that could be around their finances or governance or something related to the Municipal Act. The guest speaker was the Executive Director of the Ontario BIA Association, Kay Matthews, so this was an opportunity to make sure that everyone in Huron County is playing on a level field, and understanding what the regulations are and what the options are.

The Summit was an eye-opener for a lot of people because they didn't know some of things their BIA can or can't do. Matthews says the BIAs are local boards of the municipalities, but the municipalities have to answer to the province. And one of the problems facing BIAs is that the Municipal Act is a fairly old Act, and BIAs are part of that Act, but they don't have their own legislation to govern how they work. This means that they have to sort of piece together things from within the Act to help them move forward. And that's just one more demand on a very limited amount of spare time for people who are running their own businesses.

Carmichael says he hopes the Summit will lead to more conversations between the BIAs in how they can be more effective and more efficient.