ISSUE

02
AUGUST
KINGSTON CHAMBERNEWS August 2010 KINGSTONCHAMBER.ON.CA

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BY: RODGER JAMES, PRESIDENT
Get engaged and use your voice! The Greater
Kingston Chamber of Commerce is the voice of
business in your community.
Business needs a voice – it has to be heard on the
issues that affect the every day „ups‟ and „downs‟ of the
modern commercial world. That‟s why the Greater
Kingston Chamber of Commerce works hard to create
an environment in which business can flourish
throughout the region.
The cooperation between members, committee
volunteers and Chamber staff creates a synergy which
makes sure that the concerns and worries of companies,
organizations and the business people involved are
aired with the top decision makers. And it‟s not just the
„old‟ chestnuts such as transport infrastructure, the skills
gap, red tape, public sector and energy that are their
targets.
Rafts of employment regulation from health and safety to
training, from holiday entitlement to the minimum wage,
pour out of government departments and it is the
Chamber‟s job to make sure the views and opinions of
the Chamber‟s members get to the right people. This
means lobbying a number of key bodies locally,
provincially and nationally taking in the Government of
the day, MPs and MPPs, civil servants, Economic
Development, and other business organizations and
agencies.
The Chamber also represents members‟ views on major
economic decisions that impact on business - monthly
interest rate decisions, Municipal bylaw issues, Budget
statements and pre-Budget reports.
available for businesses
looking to promote their
organization through the
Kingston Chamber.
Advertise with us
JULY BREAKFAST SYNOPSIS
It’s more than getting social, it’s the future of business.
On Wednesday, the 14th of July, the Greater Kingston Chamber of
Commerce held a Summer Business Breakfast at The Kingston
Banquet & Conference Centre at the Days Inn, sponsored by Viva
Productions.
Guest speaker Sidneyeve Matrix spoke to a sold out audience
about the powerful opportunities for business regarding social
networking. Sidneyeve is an Assistant Professor and Queen’s
National Scholar in the Media and Film department at Queen’s
University. Social media and social networking platforms are
changing the way we connect, consume, and do business. You can
view a slideshow version of Sidneyeve’s talk, Social Media Design
and Development for Personal and Business Branding:, was
prepared for the Kingston Chamber of Commerce at the following
link:
The seminar proved to be very popular following Sidneyeve’s April
seminar which introduced those in attendance to the new
methods of using social platforms such as Google, YouTube,
Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, and Facebook.
Pictured below are, left to right, Anthony Agostino of Viva
Productions, Sidneyeve Matrix and Chamber President Rodger
James.

The Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce is there to

give members the opportunity to become involved in
lobbying work that can improve a firm‟s profile both in
the industry and in the media and give them a voice on
the issues that matter to them. Your voice is important.
To make sure your views are heard, Chamber members
can get involved today. Click here to learn more about
the Chamber Network or email:
info@kingstonchamber.on.ca to get involved.

www.kingstonchamber.on.ca
 www.kingstonchamber.on.ca

New Members July 2010

BaseCamp International Centers
4 Cataraqui Street
Suite 102 Number of Employees: 18
Kingston ON K7K 1Z7 Contact: Ms. Jules Green,
Telephone: 1 866-646-4693 Classification(s): TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Fax: (613) 541-1604 Notes: Southeastern is a full service telecommunications
Email: info@basecampcenters.com company. We offer complete solutions for your voice,
Website: http://www.basecampcenters.com data and video surveillance systems. Southeastern is
Number of Employees: 9 committed to providing total customer satisfaction and
Contact: Mr. Jim Carson, quality service with honesty and integrity in all business
Classification(s): INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER transactions.
PROGRAMS
Notes: BaseCamp International Centers provides short
to long term international volunteer opportunities for UPS Store
those interested in volunteering in Social, Teaching, 427 Princess Street
Health & Medical, Conservation and Building programs. Kingston ON K7L 5S9
BaseCamp currently has centers in Costa Rica, Telephone: (613) 549-4224
Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, Ghana, Tanzania and Nepal. Fax: (613) 549-4894
Email: store191@theupsstore.ca
Nova Health Naturopathic Centre Website: http://www.theupsstore.ca/191
67 Brock Street Number of Employees: 4
3rd Floor Contact: Mr. Tom Wilson,
Kingston ON K7L 1R8 Classification(s): PRINTING & COPYING
Telephone: (613) 546-9995 Notes:
Fax: (613) 546-9911
Email: dr.oxbro@novahealthnaturopathic.com
Website: http://www.novahealthnaturopathic.com
Number of Employees: 1 Directory Updates
Contact: Dr. Kimberly Oxbro,
Classification(s): NATUROPATHIC
Notes: Nova Health Naturopathic Centre focuses on
providing primary medical care including full physical Alterna Savings Credit Union (new office)
823 Norwest Road
examinations, blood work on site, intravenous therapy
Kingston ON K7P 2N4
for the treatment of cancer and other chronic diseases, Tel: 613.634.1363
acupuncture, diabetes management, nutritional Fax: 613.634.2376
guidance, and botanical and neutraceutical therapies. Email (Cindy Bilow) cindy.bilow@alterna.ca

Dr. Ryan Fitzpatrick Frank’s Worldwide Moving (new location)

1300 Bath Rod 60 Rigney Street
Kingston ON K7M 4X4 Kingston ON K7K 6Z2
Telephone: (613) 546-7645
Gordon’s Estate Services (new location)
Fax: (613) 546-3465
490 Discovery Avenue, Unit 7
Email: drryan@2020eyesite.ca Kingston ON K 7K 7E9
Website: http://www.2020eyesite.ca Tel: 613.542.0963
Number of Employees: 3
Contact: Dr. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Parker & Associates, Inc. (PAI) – a division of Delcan
Classification(s): OPTICIANS & OPTOMETRISTS Corporation
Notes: Primary eye care services, laser surgery co Cathy Campbell Wilson, now Business Development Manager
management, contact lenses, dry eye management, Kim Reynolds, now Executive Assistant
visual training.

Southeastern Telecommunication Services

680 Innovation Drive
Kingston ON K7K 7E7
Telephone: (613) 544-6701
Fax: (613) 544-6709
Email: service@southeastern.net
Website: http://www.southeastern.net 
www.kingstonchamber.on.ca

AccessibilityWorks
Accessibility Works is a new initiative of the Ontario Chamber
of Commerce (OCC) with support and funding from the
Accessibility Directorate of Ontario. The OCC will work
collaboratively with the Chambers of Commerce and Boards of
Trade to help businesses in Ontario become aware of and
comply with the Customer Service Standard. It is the first
standard developed under Accessibility for Ontarians with
Disabilities Act (AODA). Other accessibility standards are
being developed in areas including transportation, information
and communications, employment and built environment.
The Accessibility Standards for Customer Service applies to all
people, businesses and organizations that:
 provide goods or services either directly to the public or to
other businesses or organizations and have one or more
employees in Ontario.
 Organizations in the private sector, including non-profit,
must comply by January 1, 2012.
Key activities of the project will include:
 Web-based information and an online training module
designed specifically to help business implement and
comply with the Customer Service Standard;
 Facilitators information kit to help the OCC‟s 160 affiliated
local Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade
disseminate information to their corporate members;
 Up to 40 information sessions held with local Chambers of
Commerce and Boards of Trade.
AccessibilityWorks.ca will be launched in fall 2010. The
website will offer free resources and tools to help businesses
create a more accessible Ontario. For more information about
the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act visit:
AccessOn.ca
www.kingstonchamber.on.ca
www.kingstonchamber.on.ca
Hiring Today for Tomorrow:
Statistics Canada continues to predict a coming labour
shortage in certain sectors. Are there benefits of hiring
internationally trained workers?
Do you need to hire new staff? Do you need a special set of
skills and experience? Are you having trouble finding enough
workers? Do you want your business to become more
competitive? Do you want your business to develop new
markets, at home and internationally? Have you considered
hiring internationally trained workers? These are people who
received their education and training in other countries and
whose work experience was gained outside of Canada.
Internationally trained workers may be immigrants, refugees,
foreign students living in Canada, citizens of other countries
willing and able to work in Canada, or Canadians who trained
or worked outside of the country. Many employers do not know
there are internationally trained workers ready and willing to
work in Canada. They are unaware of the skills and talents of
internationally trained workers and do not know if and how
international skills and experience are transferable to the
Canadian workplace. Employers may not know how to go
about recruiting these workers, or they may anticipate
difficulties in integration. There are many good reasons to hire
internationally trained workers. They can:
• Help meet your labour needs. With the retirement of baby
boomers and a declining proportion of young workers,
immigrants will continue to play an increasingly significant role
in Canada‟s labour force growth over the coming years.
• Increase your competitiveness. Many internationally trained
workers have high levels of skills and talents that enable them
to compete for jobs in the global labour market. Many have
also developed unique and comparable skills and experience
they can bring to help your organization compete nationally
and internationally.
Additional resource information available at the website for the
Alliance of Credential Evaluation Services of Canada:
www.canalliance.org/index.en.stm
 www.kingstonchamber.on.ca
Advertise with us! - Another Way The Chamber
Works For You

Local SIGNARAMA wins prestigious

industry award

Think Kingston knows what you do and how well you do it?
As the voice of business in the Kingston area, the Greater
Kingston Chamber of Commerce works hard to communicate
with its members through a variety of methods. What this
means to you as a Chamber member is a unique opportunity to
reach out to your fellow members - an audience of almost 900
of the region‟s premier businesses – and the greater
community as a whole.
The new Chamber website will be a dynamic and interactive
source for all things business in Kingston. With hundreds of
visits every day and more than 30,000 unique visits per month,
there are excellent opportunities offered exclusively to
Chamber members. Through advertorials, enhanced listings
and page, banner and e-flash sponsorships, you can reach out
to businesses and individuals throughout the region, across the
country, and around the world. Statistical analysis of our
website traffic has illustrated that the business and residential
communities at large continue to rely on the Chamber as their
source of information on business and political news,
educational opportunities and upcoming events.
Membership in the Chamber offers many benefits, and there is
no greater benefit than the opportunity for its members to talk
to one another; to communicate, educate and sell like never
before.
For more information on the advertising opportunities available,
please contact Wil Cleland at Primer Business Solutions. 613
767 9644. Email: WCleland@myprimer.ca
SIGNARAMA, the world‟s largest sign franchise, announces
local resident Chris Duncan is the winner for this year‟s Rookie
of the Year award. The prestigious award was given at the
company‟s World Expo event, the sign industries‟ largest
privately held vendor tradeshow.
“We are honored to be given the Rookie of the Year award
because we are surrounded by other franchise owners around
the world with excellent reputations who are fueling growth in
their areas.
To be recognized as one of the best is quite an honor, says
Duncan. He goes on to say, “From A-frames, to banners, to
any of our full-range of comprehensive sign services including
full vehicle wraps, I look forward to continuing to serve the
Kingston market, as a trained specialist in sign design and
installation.”
With nearly 1,000 retail locations worldwide, SIGNARAMA
uses cutting-edge industry software programs to provide a full
range of comprehensive sign and graphic services to both the
private and commercial segments of the business community.
For more information on SIGNARAMA in Kingston, contact
Chris Duncan at
613-570-SIGN (7446) or www.signarama-kingston.com.

From the Canadian Chamber of Commerce – Dispatches from Washington.

The following is submitted to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, written by Paul Frazer, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Special Advisor
on Canada-U.S. Relations, will be providing briefs on issues and events that have implications for Canadian businesses. Based in Washington, DC, Mr.
Frazer has sixteen years of experience and is a well -known and influential player in Canada- U.S. issues.

Congressional landscape: Many leading analysts are calling for a Republican majority in the House post-November 2 and a reduced majority in the
Senate. Some suggest the Senate would go Republican as well—- for a variety of reasons this is less likely. Nonetheless, the President will continue
in office for two more years. He, by necessity will have to engage Republicans in a very different manner in order to make any legislative progress.
(Bill Clinton did this successfully when faced with a loss of his majority in 1994). We cannot overlook the fact that disunity on key issues within the
Democratic Party has been a major stumbling block for the President. Democrats in the House and many in the Senate are not satisfied with the
President’s lack of presence/leadership at critical moments in helping to pass legislation-more recently on the energy/climate front. I would suggest
that the President saw that the votes were not there and he was not going to waste his political capital without some reasonable chance of success.

What this means for Canada: On energy/climate, Ottawa will assess just where this set of circumstances leaves Canada. It doesn’t have many
options. The Congress returns in early September for a month before Members return to their districts to campaign. The November vote will have a
direct impact on both the mood of legislators and on the decision of the leadership to have a “lameduck” session or to remain in recess for the most
part until the end of the year. It is possible that a lame-duck session will occur for a brief few weeks and strangely enough it is possible to pass
bolder legislation when outgoing Members have nothing to lose. To do this will require real leadership from the top and that at the moment is a
question mark. As mentioned previously it is critical for Ottawa to determine what it can do to protect Canada’s economic interests without boxing
itself in while waiting for the United States to act.

www.kingstonchamber.on.ca

Upcoming Events
September
Friday, September 10th – Chamber Open House. 2:00 pm
– 4:00 pm. Meet Chamber staff and members in an informal
networking environment. New member orientation session will
take place from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Innovation Park at 945
Princess Street. Free with RSVP. Sponsored by TD Canada
Trust.
Tuesday, September 14th, 7:15 am – 9 am Chamber of
Commerce Breakfast. St. Lawrence College Update Start
your business day with Chris Whitaker, St. Lawrence College
President & CEO and learn about the new Employment
Service initiatives. Host: St. Lawrence College Davies Hall. $20
plus HST Chamber members, $30 plus HST non-members.
Sponsor: Employment Service. 72 hours prior notice for
cancellation for attendees.
Thursday, September 16th, Rogers presents the 5th
Annual Ladies Day on the Green. Another great SOLD OUT
Chamber day of golf, networking and just plain fun! – Includes
a marketplace, prizes, and dinner. Host: Colonnade Golf and
Country Club. Net proceeds from this day go to Breast Cancer
Action Kingston. 72 hours prior notice for cancellation for
attendees.
Tuesday, September 21st, 8:30 am – 10:30 am Chamber
Workshop. Creating Web Presence with Primer Business
Solutions. Find out about Content Management Systems and
how they impact your bottom line. In this series, explore selling
your products online with E-Commerce Solutions as well as
take a look at tying that into the next series of talks we have
regarding Online Marketing. From graphic design and its
importance to the fundamentals of CMS Systems and the
effectiveness of a well-planned website. Innovation Park at 945
Princess Street. Cost to attend is $15 plus HST Chamber
members; $20 plus HST non-members. 72 hours prior notice
for cancellation for attendees.
Wednesday, September 22nd 8:30 am – 10:30 am –
Chamber Workshop. Blackberry Tips & Tricks with Rogers
Wireless Express. Unleash the true power of your Blackberry.
This is a chance to attend a “user focused” session with hands-
on tools and training by Rogers Wireless Express
professionals. Innovation Park at 945 Princess Street. Cost to
attend is $15 plus HST Chamber members; $20 plus HST non-
members. 72 hours prior notice for cancellation for attendees.
Thursday, September 23rd - 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm. Chamber
of Commerce New Member Showcase Business Mixer. It‟s
a great opportunity to meet new friends, re-acquaint with old
and establish successful networking at the Cataraqui Golf &
Country Club, 961 King Street West. This event is sponsored
by Verico Mortgage Professionals. Plan to drop by for an
exciting celebration with displays from New Chamber
Members, although any members can exhibit. The cost for
Chamber members to exhibit is $105 plus HST. Admission is
free. 72 hours prior notice for cancellation for exhibitors.
th,
Thursday, September 30 8:30 am – 10:30 am – Chamber
Workshop. Introduction to American Sign Language,
sponsored and presented by Leading Hands of Canada.
Find out how the Accessibility Act affects business effective
January 2012. Registration takes place from 8:30 am to 
www.kingstonchamber.on.ca
www.kingstonchamber.on.ca
10:30 am - Innovation Park at 945 Princess Street. Cost to
attend is $15 plus HST Chamber members; $20 plus HST non-
members. 72 hours prior notice for cancellation for attendees.
th,
Thursday, September 30 8:30 am – 10:30 am – Chamber
Workshop. What’s new in Microsoft Office 2010 with Lorrie
Watts of Software Simplified. Get an overview of the main
changes in Office 2010: improved collaboration, new Excel
data analysis capabilities and the ability to use Office from
multiple locations and devices. Innovation Park at 945 Princess
Street. Cost to attend is $15 plus HST Chamber members; $20
plus HST non-members. 72 hours prior notice for cancellation
for attendees.
October
th
Tuesday, October 12 - 7:15 am – 9:00 am. Chamber
Breakfast – United Way Success By Six Update. Donald
Gordon Centre at Queen‟s University, featuring a speech on
behalf of the United Way. Cost to attend is $20 plus HST
Chamber members; $30 plus HST non-members. Sponsored
by Bell. 72 hours prior notice for cancellation for attendees.
th
Thursday, October 14 - 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm. Celebrate
Small Business Mixer in the Confederation Place Hotel.
Sponsored by BDC Business Development Bank of Canada.
SMALL BUSINESS IS MAKING BIG NEWS! Help us to
celebrate the success of the strong little engines propelling and
prospering in our community at our Small Business Mixer. Cost
for Chamber members to exhibit is $105 dollars plus HST.
Admission is free. 72 hours prior notice for cancellation for
exhibitors.
November
th - TH
Friday, November 5 It’s our 15 Annual President’s Gala
featuring the Business Achievement Awards. Host:
Kingston Banquet and Conference Centre at Days Inn
Kingston, 33 Benson Street. Tickets: $95 plus HST for
Chamber members, $125 plus HST for non-members. 72
hours prior notice for cancellation for attendees.
th
Tuesday, November 16 - 7:15 am – 9:00 am. Chamber
Breakfast – You Are the Speaker. Everyone in attendance
will have the chance to stand, introduce themselves and tell a
little bit of what you do and how you can help others with your
unique skill. Think of it as your own personal 30-second radio
commercial. Host: Residence Inn by Marriott Kingston Water‟s
Edge, 7 Earl Street. Cost to attend is $20 plus HST Chamber
members; $30 plus HST non-members. Sponsored by Digital
Office Systems. 72 hours prior notice for cancellation for
attendees.
EVENTS SUPPORTED BY VIA RAIL CANADA