The Carman and Community Chamber of Commerce held its monthly meeting at the Carman Memorial Hall on Feb. 11.
Carman and Community’s Chamber president Marni Harrison led the meeting, during which various people and committees gave reports to those in attendance in person and virtually on Zoom.
At the meeting, a representative from Carman Wellness Connections discussed what their organization brings to the community, shared their visions and values, and discussed how it aligns with local businesses.
This year’s Boyne Book It Fun Run will be held on May 24, and registration for it will open in March. The route during the run will take you on the Carman Community Pathway. The recipient of the proceeds from this year’s run will be announced later this month.
Town of Carman councillor Richard Dyck informed attendees that the budgets are being fine-tuned this week for the coming year. Garbage and recycling changes are being discussed, and the mill rate will drop in an assessment year. The Town is also looking for a new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
No one from the RM of Dufferin was present at the meeting to give a report on things going on in the RM.
The 2025 Carman and Community Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament has been set for Thursday, June 12. The organizing committee will be looking for sponsors and teams to sign up. Last year’s tournament was very profitable for the Chamber, and they’re hoping to do the same this year.
It was also announced that the Chamber’s Burger Week and Poutine Week will be flipped this year, at the suggestion of one of the participating restaurants, to give the two weeks a slightly different look.
A whopping 52 teams have signed up to battle it out in the Carman Chamber’s Surviving February event, which is currently ongoing. From Feb. 17 to 27, there will be daily draws to win various $25 gift cards, with no draws on Sunday.
Some other notes that came out of last week’s Chamber meeting include:
– The Chamber’s Annual General Meeting will be in April at its regular meeting time.
– It was noted that strengthening Chamber relationships with the community and government is the Chamber’s goal for the rest of 2025.
– The Carman Cougars high school hockey team is hosting the provincial championship at the end of the month with eight teams coming to town, so it’ll be a small boost for the local economy that week.
– A new community billboard was in talks, and some preliminary discussions were had as a way to welcome visitors to Carman and also as a way of getting events promoted in town
– The Chamber would like to develop a better relationship with local schools in Carman. They have a meeting set up with the PRSD Superintendent Kevin Clace later this month as they’d like to see more of a collaboration with the schools going forward.
The Chamber also sent a survey last week sent by the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce.
In a united effort to represent businesses in ongoing discussions about tariffs and the Canada-U.S. trading relationship, Chambers across Manitoba are seeking feedback from businesses to help the Manitoba Chambers understand the real-world impact of ongoing tariff negotiations and the recently announced 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Interested parties can take the five-minute survey at the link here: forms.office.com.
The next Carman and Community Chamber of Commerce meeting will be held on March 11 at noon at Carman Memorial Hall.
