Business groups agree they should cooperate more ... to a point

The next year is an opportune one for the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, and perhaps all seven Ottawa-area chambers.

Nearly a decade after the City of Ottawa amalgamated, Ottawa's disparate business groups have yet to unite. But with the Ottawa chamber dedicating the next six months or so to finding a replacement for outgoing president and CEO Gail Logan, 2008 may be an excellent year of opportunity, some close to the matter say.

Whether it's an opportunity to actually unite the city's chambers, or to simply cooperate more closely, is still open to discussion.

Many other amalgamated Ontario municipalities, including the Greater Toronto Area, continue to have local chambers for areas like Scarborough, but an argument could be made that it's more necessary in a city of five million.

According to some critics, though, a city the size of Ottawa should unite its chambers and work more effectively for its members. Otherwise, what results is wasted time and money spent duplicating each others' research, lobbying and networking efforts, as well as duplication of staff. All without the benefit of the added clout a larger group would carry, especially when lobbying bodies like city hall.

That fact was evident last month during the city's budget process, when the business community, especially retail merchants, felt ignored when requests for a deferral on parking meter increases fell on deaf ears at council.

Now is an ideal time for the varied groups to realign and refocus their goals some are saying, and perhaps restart a unification process that once beckoned, but quickly fizzled. Some of those calls are emanating from within the Ottawa chamber.

"We have (seven) chambers of commerce and OCRI (Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation), all taking the time and attention and dollars that would normally go into advocacy for the business community," Rob Sproule, a chamber board member, told the OBJ. "Because the business community is so fractured between these groups, there's no strong, central voice."

Ottawa's business community has been ignored for far too long, he said. With Ms. Logan's departure, the timing is right to find a president who will seek a rapprochement with the different chambers and other business groups, or perhaps to even hire one leader for all the chambers at the same time.

The divided chambers, he said, are too small and timid to effectively criticize the city. And larger biz groups, like OCRI, rely on the city's largesse, and won't necessarily petition the city as much as an independent group, he added.

"(Seven) chambers don't have the concentrated resources to do it right," he said. "Five of them don't do anything, and the Ottawa chamber does what they can but it's not enough . . . the membership fees which go to support the salaries and building the volunteer groups to do the work to research public policy related to small business is divided between the chambers and OCRI memberships.

"There's a great opportunity to have the Ottawa chamber invite the other chambers into the process. If they had a joint committee of all the chambers, and if they discuss how they can work together and hire one chamber head, that would be a good thing for the city's business committee."

Richard Clayman, who chairs the Ottawa chamber's board, said the board will "carefully" consider what qualities to look for in a potential new hire.

Like other chambers, the Ottawa chamber is seeking to increase its membership and provide more networking events. When asked if the Ottawa chamber was interested in starting a process of uniting Ottawa-area chambers, he declined to answer. However, the chamber will seek "a heightened level of community involvement and links with other key business organizations."

"We have just celebrated 150 proud years of community building," he said. "But every organization must always strive to remain current, relevant and energized. Our strategic review will, I know, present some exciting new ways in which we can better serve our members."

Mr. Sproule's idea will likely be resisted by the other chambers, many of which pride themselves on being fierce advocates for their own areas.

Tom MacWilliam, president of the Eastern Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, agreed with Mr. Sproule that a new president at the Ottawa chamber is a chance for change. However, he hesitated in advocating an end to the existence of locally-focused chambers.

"I think it's an excellent opportunity for perhaps a bit of a change in attitude at the Ottawa chamber . . . to one of more acceptance and cooperation with the other chambers," Mr. MacWilliam said.

"Looking at what's happening at city hall, the business advisory committee seems to be virtually defunct, or at least ignored. City hall's not listening to the business community when doing things, (and is) arbitrarily increasing parking rates and increasing the hours when they charge for parking. They certainly aren't listening to the downtown business community."

With such dysfunction, it makes sense to consider cooperation, he said, but that's it.

"I would hope that the Ottawa chamber would change its thinking somewhat, to move away from thinking they should be the only game in town, to accepting the fact the other chambers are here," he said.

Over at the Orleans Chamber of Commerce, executive director Peter Stewart agreed, saying local chambers know local issues best, but added there is room for more cooperation on city-wide issues.

"I guess it depends on the issue. Certainly, the Orleans Chamber has taken on a lot of the local issues, such as job growth in Orleans, the lack of employment opportunities, and attracting new businesses. Those aren't really city-wide issues, and I think it would be really difficult to get some of the other chambers to advocate for more jobs in Orleans and to forsake Ottawa, Kanata and Nepean."

Rather than combining chambers, Mr. MacWilliam advocated instead that the Ottawa chamber consider joining the National Capital Business Alliance, a loose grouping of the six other chambers, but which does not include the Francophone RGA. Members promote each others' events and jointly advocate some issues.

Mr. Sproule was undeterred.

"(Seven) chambers fractures the marketplace," he continued. "There's no reason one chamber can't meet the local issues, and have functions allowing Nepean members to get together, and Kanata and Gloucester and Orleans and downtown members to all get together, but still build an advocacy effort that's properly grounded and funded," he said.

Local chambers and approximate memberships

Ottawa Chamber of Commerce

986

Regroupement des gens d'affaires de la Capitale nationale (RGA)

500 (70 per cent in Ottawa, 30 per cent in Gatineau)

Greater Nepean Chamber of Commerce

350

Kanata Chamber of Commerce

(including Goulbourn and West Carleton)

280

Orleans Chamber of Commerce

200

Eastern Ottawa Chamber of Commerce

(formerly the Gloucester Chamber of Commerce)

130

Rideau Chamber of Commerce

30

Osgoode Ward Business Alliance

15

Source: Chamber websites, chamber representatives