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WWW-mm.m LEI] ' I! O O , C O 0 Anniversary party celebrates busmess group 5 hlStOI'lC community roots By BOBVRMNAC ‘ r ‘ Chronicle Sta]? .5 he Greater K»W Chamber of Comâ€" T meme kicked off its 125th anniversary , celebrations last week with a special .. ~, ’ gala at the Waterloo Region Museum. 1.. " It was a fitting location for the organiza- a...“ a». , . tion that represents 1.600 local businesses. '1‘ j "1'. as its antecedents. such as the Waterloo fie-*g'iffifivsf ”I" l ‘1' Board of Trade are writ large over the history .’ .33.- I. '7. ‘ of the area, i323?” ‘- ' More than 350 local business people. dig- «g- «was» , , nitaries and politicians who attended the Waxfifg ‘ ” gala got a quick snapshot of the integral his- .25; ., g1“ 11:: 7‘1; . “1‘315 9315 g - . ‘i‘ f 9 tory the Chamber played in the develop- fife? ‘~"\"3”‘, ‘1':ij our" Q “i. ment of the region. inspired by local histori- :93 fig; $312 a % like? «n ,g z “ ans Ken Mt‘laughlin and lohn English and Effij’firgxi7W_3 v1 ‘ gggig ‘g 1‘ ; included in a 15 minute video presentation "‘Si?‘:"i§g‘r”?‘}”> ' “‘5 3. 5 Did you know that the universities. now i ‘Ic‘ié‘xéfifs , ,.';-{-: 4.. _ 1‘: seen as the engine to the local knowledge- ’7‘ .4;â€" "’ *i'ki'i’ 3" ““7 " " ‘2‘ . based economy, got their start when Water- A‘ o ,â€" loo Board ofTrade president LC. Mueller _, . ‘4 (0' offered to donate five acres of land for the 3 proposed Waterloo Lutheran seminary in . a, 15)] I? That donation helped found Wilfrid Lau- ‘ rier University. now celebrating it 100th ' anniversary, and spawned the future creâ€" . 3-7 a“2T1Oti'22eaugov:rr§ltgf()Tfr‘Javg:eeliIri()i(t)iative and Jeff Maclntyre, chair of the Greater KW Chamber of Commerce, and president Ian McLean at last week's 125th anniversary kickoff. . ,. . . ”WHOM they raised the money. said McLaughlin. , . “The Lutheran Synod thought that it was a have shaped the local community. together and said let's make something bet- very engaged business community that has really attractive offer and said let's not go to “The reality is that if you look around our ter I don’t think they had any design on what helped us grow." Toronto and set up our college in this little community the Chamber of Commerce has itcouldpossibbrbe. ' The Clumberwasrecentlyrecognizedfor community. had such an amazing impact on the way we “Today, in my opinion. is really about a dread-inacyworkit does. Madam in the “It was a total surprise. but why else look. the waywe feel and what we are. celebration ofthe past and a hand ofi'to the area of physician recruitment, in trying to would it be here?" “i didn't understand that legacy that was future. I don't think they knew we'd ever 091- address a longstanding need for more doc- The creation of the University of Water- established prior to me when i came in as ebrate 125 years. but I know that we'll be cel- tors in the community. ‘ loo. and its famous co‘op engineering facul- the chair. and l'm completely humbled and ebrating our 250th year and it's exciting to The Chamber relaunched its brand along ty. was also spearheaded by past-president completely honoured to be part of this” thinkabout that and the impact we’ll have.” with a new website earlier this spring. and of the Kitchener Chamber of Commerce The local entrepreneur said the Cham- Chamber president and CEO [an McLean people can get a list of its initiatives as well Carl Pollack and another Chamber member. ber's model of working together; sharing said the gain is just one of many events the as future events by going to lra Needles. They would both go on to chair expertise and developing opportunities has group has planned for this yw as it contin- www.greaterkwclnmber.oom. the board of governors at UW and serve as been recognized not only by this communi- not its strong advocacy workin shaping the "What is it that the Chamber does?” said the school’s chancellor. . ty but those outside of it as model for eco~ local community and reinforcing the ties to McLean. . “The idea of a University of Waterloo was nomic development. the business sector. ”We came up with it's Business Building being pushed by the Chamber of Commerce And while the founders wondered about “The chamber has been involved in Community and it’s perfect because it's the a decade before it happened." said the longevity of the business group when it almost anything that you can think of that chamber and its members wanting to con- McLaughlin. who also serves as the histori- was founded. Macintyre said he has no has contributed to building our community nect with each other and build their busi- cal consultant for the Waterloo Region problems imagining it being around for whether it is the hospitals, the universities. nesses. but it's also about building the Museum. “I would say that the Chamber of another 125 years and being integral to the the community college. and arts and culture broader community. Commerce is critical to its founding.” region's future development. too." said McLean. a former two-termWater- 'And the two takes on that really Meets Jeff Maclntyre, the chair of the Chamber’s “it's shaped our community both now loo City Councillor. ”This is a good your to what we've done over the years. and we're : board of directors. said his group was a driv- and into the future." he said. "When 125 mark a significant milestone. and this clearly already looking to the future and saying i ing force behind many of the things that years ago a group of business people sat is one. but we also take pause that we had a what arewegoing to do next?’ I /’V" ,_.._._.__ . y .' , . , 5-1;“, ’5. ”ft-i“ a . - . - 2:. ~ as .- w :. G ET READY fo r s , a... r a. e is U Q . iii _ . 1 . as i 9“ ‘ _Wré?“’..' ‘ 7%.}, , if“ '13:; " . . ,7 ‘ t. 4.3:; ', ’ ‘ .. "'~ " g r‘ '5? ,. ',"§§:§’2i' ' gs-‘Lilg “no": {1231* “is, eight; ‘ y: l“ “' «5 .l l G l N A S 5. anti. 6"“ e“: a ‘ . m-umstumo‘umm ““59“".