By Emily Stonehouse

The Haliburton Highlands Chamber of Commerce (HHCOC) held their 63rd AGM on Dec. 12 via Zoom. The short and sweet meeting included highlights of the past year, as well as projects for the year ahead. 

“From a business perspective, it’s been a challenging year,” said president of the Chamber, Mark Bell. He noted that high interest rates and poor winter weather played a part in many businesses facing financial difficulties. “But it looks like we’re off to a better start this winter,” he noted. 

Amanda Conn, the executive director of the Chamber, dove into some highlights from the past year, including the annual Chamber Gala, which she claimed had more attendees than previous years, as well as the newly launched shoulder season passport program, which she indicated had brought folks into businesses during the quieter times of the year. “As a chamber, we really put a strong foot forward,” she noted. 

Another highlight of the year for HHCOC was moving locations from the Village Barn to the newly opened LINK building, which resides with HCDC on County Road 21. Conn believes that the new location has allowed for networking opportunities to happen organically; something that was not an option at their former lodging. 

The executive director also noted that HHCOC dedicated time to community initiatives such as short term rentals, shoreline by-laws, and attainable housing, but did not dive into the logistics of the projects. 

“This was a little bit of an investment year,” said Conn, referencing that her primary area of focus was getting HHCOC technology up to date. “We’ve worked to improve our technologies. We’ve had a lot of email challenges over the years.” She shared that while the website also needs improvement, that will be a future chamber project. 

Conn claimed that there has not been “a gigantic change” in the budget this year, with a deficit of over 2000 as the bottom line for the past fiscal year, between April 2023, and March 2024. She has spent the majority of the year flying solo as director for HHCOC, as the chamber community manager left in May of this past year. Conn shared that she has been trying to fill that role, but has run into some challenges in the hiring process. 

The meeting went on to welcome new members to HHCOC, including Ommmh/Eat, Studio PK Residential Designs, Mulligans Pub and Patio, Ball Real Estate, The Post House Haliburton Highlands, and Kacaba Cottage Care. 

The Chamber also welcomed new directors to the team, including Xavier Masse from Fleming College, Chelsea Adamson from Sweat Social, and Harsha Manani of Lakeview Motel and Resort. “These are some real leaders in our community,” said Bell.