County of Brant Chamber of Commerce (previously the Paris and District Chamber of Commerce) debuted its new office space during an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, May 23, 2024.
David Bailey, Mayor for the County of Brant, along with Ward 2 County Councillors, Steve Howes and Lukas Oakley, as well as various municipal staff, were just a few who stopped in to celebrate the grand opening of the chamber’s first-ever physical office space at 245 Grand River St. N (Telfer House main floor offices).
Sue Morton, Executive Director for the County of Brant Chamber of Commerce, thanked everyone for their hard work in preparing the new space, saying they were happy to officially have a home.
“You know, I have to thank the folks at Telfer Place,” she said. “With the amount of work that got done around this building in the last week, you’d all be amazed if you had seen what this space looked like a week ago. I really owe it to them for all the hard work to get this place all spruced up and looking so great, they’ve been awesome to work with so far, and I think they’re going to make great landlords, so we’re happy to be here.”
During the event, Mayor Bailey said that between the growth of the County and the dedication of the Chamber board members, the new office space is well deserved.
“This is just one of the good things about growth in the County of Brant. We have all these things that happen every day and people say, ‘we’re getting so big that we’re losing this and we’re losing that,’ but you know what? Getting big has allowed us to have our own Chamber of Commerce and it’s very nice to know that we have people out there looking out for our best interest, people who know the difference between Harrisburg and Harley,” he said. “We are a community of communities, and we’ve handled that very well and I’m so glad that we’ve gotten big enough that we have our own representatives now. Our events may not be as big as other Chambers that surround us, but they’re more effective and they’re more meaningful because they represent us. They don’t represent other people in other places, they represent us and for that I’m very grateful.”
Since its inception 26 years ago, the Chamber of Commerce has strived to be recognized as the “Voice of Business” in the County of Brant, and has dedicated its time to creating a sustainable, engaged, collaborative and vibrant business community with just over 110 members.
Between the work across various initiatives like Brant Connects (a committee working to bring high speed internet to all areas of the County of Brant), and hosting both networking and learning opportunities, Sherri Barna, President for the County of Brant Chamber of Commerce, said that with the brand-new office space, her and the team are looking forward to being able to continue to grow local businesses.
“I’m very grateful for all the work the volunteers do for the County of Brant Chamber, I had no idea how much work went into things because I had never sat on a board until I was able to sit on this one, and I’m telling you, the members are amazing, but the Board of Directors are even more so,” she said. “As someone who lives in St. George, I love the County and I want to see it thrive, not just for businesses but for everybody. Over the last few years, I’ve met a ton of business owners, and we have something special here and we [the Chamber] just want to magnify it; That is our only goal and I appreciate you all helping and coming along for that journey. We just want to help businesses grow, it’s that simple and I appreciate all of your support because you all help us do that.”
