The Greater Victoria Chamber in its November/December issue of "Business Matters" printed an article titled: Moving Forward on the HST. This article, written by Shannon Renault, Manager Policy Development & Communications, is an informative piece that sheds further light on the impact of the HST to businesses in all sectors, and to consumers. In the article, Shannon references the request of the Canadian Home Builders Association to increase the threshold on new homes, and since the print of this article we have received news that the government has in fact, acknowledged the realities represented by the CHBA, and has raised the threshold from $400,000 to $525,000.

Special thanks to the Victoria Chamber for allowing us to use this reprint, and to Shannon for putting together such a well-balanced and informative article.

Click here to read the article.

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, December 9th for our annual Christmas Mixer at Hatley Castle, from 5 to 9 pm. At this mixer we encourage members to bring in non-perishable food items, new unwrapped toys or cash donations, which we collect for the WestShore Christmas Hamper Fund. Every year the Society needs upwards of $15,000.00 to purchase gift certificates for a turkey for each family and presents for children, in addition to collecting food items for 750 hampers.

This is always a very popular and well attended event, with fabulous food and a festive atmosphere. We look forward to seeing you there.

To pump up the holiday spirit, Langford is launching its first Christmas decorating contest this year, sweetened with two $500 cash prizes donated by the West Shore Developers Association and Westhills. Businesses are encouraged to create a storefront window display and residents are encouraged to decorate their house and yard. A three-judge panel will select the winners shortly before Langford’s Christmas Light Up on December 5th starting at 6pm at Veteran’s Memorial Park. Please see the attached poster for more details.

Click here for more details.

Ever thought about a day-trip to Sooke to add a little something different to your Christmas activities? On Saturday, December 5th, the Sooke Harbour Chamber is putting on a holiday festival that includes an afternoon of fun with the Santa Parade, music, crafters, concessions, and great local shopping. The festivities continue into the evening with the second annual inner harbour Sail Past – a floating procession of vessels lighting up the night sky. This fun holiday event, hosted by the Sooke Harbour Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary Unit #37 Sooke, and the District of Sooke.

Click here for more details.

The Fire Truck Parade takes place on Sunday, December 20 this year with the parade beginning and ending at Eagle Ridge Arena. Don't miss out on this opportunity to round out your holiday activities. Beautifully decorated fire trucks and emergency vehicles and a visit from Santa are bound to please all ages. It's a WestShore tradition!

Click here for a parade route poster.

Last week we let you know about government training money that is available for businesses. This money is going to be used up quickly, so the time to jump in and apply for it is NOW!

The Chamber is participating with ETraffic Solutions to offer: "Expand Your Market via Ecommerce", an employee training program specifically created to support small businesses. “EXPAND Your Market” is a structured employee training program that will empower your employees to create and launch your company’s own fully functional ecommerce website, or to add an e-commerce component to an existing website. During the current economic downturn, there couldn’t be a better time to introduce the power of ecommerce technology to your business and expand your customer base with “Expand Your Market” employee training. These funds are available to employees only, not business owner/operators.

There is no cost for your business, since the training is paid for by Economic Stimulus Money!

Benefit 1: Your staff gets up-to-date training on Ecommerce
Benefit 2: Your business gets a fully functional ecommerce website
Benefit 3: You could qualify to train an additional person

Up to 4 employees can be completely funded under government stimulus funding – but hurry before the pilot funds run out. A flyer with specific course information is attached. If you are interested, please contact the Chamber office (250-478-1130) and we will provide you with the application form and the specifics of where and how to apply for these funds.

Click here for course brochure.

The sponsor for this Blast is the WestShore Centre for Learning. Please check out the attached flyer to see a list of their upcoming training and career development courses.

Click here to see the flyer.