President of Brockville & District Chamber of Commerce cautiously optimistic

Posted Jan 19, 2012 By Jill Hudson

EMC Business - Heather Halliday, the president of the board of the Brockville and District Chamber of Commerce, sees a positive outlook for 2012.

Brenda Clark, executive director for the downtown business improvement (DBIA), told Halliday that she had spoken with a number of downtown business owners and learned that Brockville's fourth quarter sales were somewhat flat - with just a slight increase.

There was a big increase in the number of gift certificates sales for the month of December, which were up 24 per cent over last year, including vendor-specific gift certificates and downtown business certificates.

The chamber of commerce president said that she echoes what business leaders have been saying.

"I am cautiously optimistic," said Halliday. "We have a lot of small businesses that are members of the chamber and small businesses are very nimble - they are able to adapt to the changing economy."

Halliday is optimistic because of construction and new businesses coming to Brockville. "We have a lot of good things going on in the city. There is a lot of construction with the MDC (Maritime Discovery Centre) and the condos and new companies coming to town. We just recently had a Michaels open and LCBO is building a superstore in the north end. So, there are good things happening here."

She said there are still global economic forces beyond Brockville's control but she believes the town will manage through it. Halliday said that she is glad the municipal leaders are looking at cooperative initiatives going forward.

"It's a case of when we work together we're greater than the sum of the individuals," said Halliday. "This area has a lot to offer - so it's good that we can collectively market the entire area."