What do most successful businesses have in common on Galiano Island ?
They are active members of our Community and members of the Galiano Island Chamber of Commerce.

One of the attractions that draw people to Galiano Island is the island's sense of community. Part of any successful and sustainable community is economic stability. Part of living in a community is creating a cohesive network of businesses that strive to maintain the economical viability of that community so that we can all live, work and play here. Being part of that community -- by paying dues to the organization:

• that greets your guests and visiting relatives
• that answers questions from the patrons of your shops and restaurants
• that directs people to your services
• that features your business effectively online at www.galianoisland.com

All these functions benefit everyone: the visitor, the guest, the relative, the resident, the business owner - our Island as a whole.

The Galiano Chamber website is often the first contact point that both new residents and visitors have with Galiano. It is one of the primary sources for visitors wanting to find information about our Island. Visitors can quickly locate and be in touch with accommodations, recreational activities, retail shops, art galleries, our community services organizations and a variety of food stores, all from this one website. Statistics show that galianoisland.com is consistently at the top of search results for "Galiano Island".

The BC Chamber of Commerce, of which Galiano is a member, ensures that our voices are heard at the regional and provincial levels. Your opinions do count and your voice should be heard also at the local level as well! Our Chamber provides an opportunity for our business community to make its opinions known to our government representatives here at the municipal level - on issues such as the Short Term Vacation Rentals (STVRs) and other Official Community Plan (OCP) Review fields of business interest. Through membership feedback, we work to bring consensus on issues affecting our community. In addition, we provide a number of very effective marketing and promotional opportunities for our Chamber members. These are multiple listing choices available on www.galianoisland.com as well as your inclusion inside our annually produced Galiano Brochure and Map. This publication is circulated widely on the ferries and at BC tourist information centres.

With your membership in the Galiano Island Chamber of Commerce, you automatically join over 28,000 businesses across the province as a member of our larger body, the BC Chamber of Commerce. This organization is a powerful advocate for businesses, acting as a watchdog for a number of our most important BC industries such as tourism and small business-related issues.

The Chamber site provides Galiano's Online Business Directory, profiling its membership - either by business category or alphabetically. Those members who have a 'main web advertisement' are provided with links to their own website if they have one. We get thousands of unique visitors to the website each month, with the highest web traffic over the summer months. www.galianoisland.com is an incredibly valuable promotional tool that boosts Galiano Island 's economy.

Being a Galiano Chamber member provides you with a means of broadcasting your message to our entire Galiano Chamber membership. If you are staging a special Galiano event, you can post an event notice for inclusion in our event calendar. This is a very effective way to communicate to all our business community in seconds!

The Chamber operates a summer Visitor Information Booth (see next tab) and the Chamber's telephone number is monitored year-round, as are the three main Chamber email addresses (general information, membership information and our president). Collectively, these are used by hundreds of people and outside businesses, resulting in many leads for Chamber members.

Located near the BC Ferries terminal on Sturdies Bay Road, the Chamber operates an 'Information Booth', where visitors to the island are warmly greeted. As well, members can have their brochures, pamphlets and cards 'racked' in the booth, where visitors can easily access this information. The cost of racking your business information is included in your annual membership fee.

Community groups or organizations can post information about their 'special event' on one side of the booth. Many visitors to the island consult the board to find out what events are going on.

The Chamber also makes available, free of charge, a 12x18" double-sided colour 'community map'. This map outlines all of the shoreline accesses, walks and beaches available on Galiano for our visitors. As well, it has a small written profile of Galiano.

Opening of the booth throughout the winter month depends only on members being involved. So, if you have some time on a weekend and can meet one of the morning ferries, please let us know. The success of our booth this time of year depends entirely on our membership helping to run it.

Each summer, the Board of Directors submits an application for the partial funding of the salary for a full time summer student. The student grant usually covers the time period from the last week of June until the end of August. The Chamber has had great success in selecting students who were keen to share their knowledge of the island, as well as to be a reliable and friendly resource for visitors.

www.galianoisland.com focuses attention on members' main web advertisements and listings which are located under the following categories established for 2010.

• Accomodations - Bed & Breakfasts; Cottages, Cabins & Houses; Inns & Resorts; and Retreats
• Arts, Crafts & Galleries
• Dining
• Education & Culture
• Health & Bodywork
• Services & Retail
• Fun & Recreation
• Weddings & Ceremonies

Each main web advertisement features one or more photographs from each business, an enlarged text space of 500 characters of descriptive text and further helpful information such as the location address, email and domain website links and for the accommodations - amenity icons. For an additional cost, members also have the opportunity to broadcast an advertising "banner" at the top of a category's index page.

This fall the Chamber introduced a 'business to business' networking event through a social. This was an opportunity for members to come together and share information about their business with other business owners and to get to know each other. The Board of Directors would like to encourage and support any member who would be willing to host such an event. Refreshments and a place are all that is needed, and the Board of Directors will ensure that it gets promoted.
It's a great opportunity to show off your business and get to know other local businesses better!

The BC Chamber of Commerce has many partnerships and benefit providers through whom it is able to pass on benefits and contacts to its members. Please see the full listing of these providers on the BC Chamber of Commerce website; you can browse the opportunities offered by these organizations. Below are some highlights.

Protect yourselves with the Chamber of Commerce Group Insurance Plan. No matter the size of your company, the Plan provides competitive coverage for dental, long term disability, extended health and life insurance. For more information check out www.chambers.ca.

Through the BC Chamber of Commerce, we are able to offer members a better merchant discount rate on VISA and MASTERCARD deposit payment processing. VersaPay Corporation is proud to offer BC Chamber members preferential payment processing rates for Visa, MasterCard and Interac. There is no need to change bank accounts and your funds are deposited the next business day. 1.69% + 15 cents per VISA/MC transaction is offered and 7 Cents per Interac Transaction. Please learn more of how to apply by contacting the BC Chamber of Commerce directly at (604) 683-0700 or online at www.bcchamber.org

You can save on fuel costs with Chamber Member gasoline discount programs. Fill up and save with Shell, Husky/Mohawk, Petro-Canada or Esso products. Shell's discount is 2 cents/litre off (with shell card); Husky/Mohawk offers 2 cents/litre off on all fuel purchases (no minimum); Petro-Canada offers 2 cents/litre off gas (with a minimum of 200 litres/month); 5% discount on all parts and labour at Centigard Car Care Centres and lastly Esso offers 3 cents/litre discount off of their fuel purchased.

Give me one good reason why I should join the Galiano Island Chamber of Commerce!

We've got 107 reasons - and we call them members! But they're really partners in our Island's largest business organization the Galiano Island Chamber of Commerce. They are people like you who are working together to establish a stronger, more vital business environment on our Island and that's good business for everyone!

Thank you for your continued support of the Galiano Island Chamber of Commerce.

President	Jesse Keefer	Bodega Resort
	president@galianoisland.com	250.539.2677
Acting-Secretary	Susanne Laughlin	Twirly Tree Gallery
	secretary@galianoisland.com	250.539.2911
Treasurer	Shirley Quinn	Active Pass Beach House
	accounts@galianoisland.com	250.539.3060
Acting Membership Director	Henny Schnare	Captain's Quarters Heritage Log House Henny Schnare, Wedding Photographer
	membership@galianoisland.com	250.539.9993
Member-At-Large	Andrew Loveridge	La Cabra Museum
		250.539.2507