The Burnaby Board of Trade and the New Westminster Chamber of Commerce are investigating the possibility of a merger after the New West chamber experienced “difficulties” and hemorrhaged membership after the pandemic.
The chairs of both business development groups signed an agreement in August to explore the idea and promised not to pursue a merger with any other party during the negotiations.
At a presentation to Burnaby council Sept. 9, chair of BBOT Dana Martin said she doesn’t want to call it a “merger.”
“It would be more of an ‘expansion,’ so Burnaby would expand their territory,” Martin said.
Paula Skaper, chair of BBOT’s board of governors, said New West, as a much smaller chamber, “experienced difficulties” over the pandemic in maintaining operations.
“They found themselves in a position where they had some very difficult decisions to make, and expansion of another board, a friendly board that they felt was aligned, seemed to them the best to move forward.”
Skaper said the New West chamber has 250 active members but had nearly 500 before the pandemic. She added there is the potential to rebuild that membership.
BBOT has more than 1,100 members.
Martin said the chamber had reached out to multiple organizations, but, for New West, Burnaby made the most sense due to location and relationship.
Each board has created a task force, with six representatives in Burnaby and four in New West.
Each task force will do its own separate research to ensure the “expansion” is a positive move for both organizations and then come together for discussions.
If the task force recommends moving forward, the boards would then engage their members and, if that moves forward, call a special general meeting in early 2025 to ask for approval.
“It’s really important to understand that the final decision belongs to our membership, not to our board,” said Skaper.
The task forces are expected to complete their recommendations in late November.
Impact on Burnaby
Coun. Sav Dhaliwal said the relationship between the city and BBOT is different than other cities, as the city financially supports the board, and the board works with staff on the city’s economic development strategy.
Burnaby paid a total of $135,190 to BBOT last year, according to the city’s statement of financial information.
New West’s chamber does not work in that way with the city, as the city has its own economic development office, according to Skaper.
“You’ve raised one of the key concerns of our board, which is protecting and maintaining that strong relationship with Burnaby and ensuring that no expansion that we have creates any struggle for our ability to maintain and fulfill that obligation,” Skaper said.
Other logistical issues the task forces will consider include how the two groups would normalize the fee structure (New West’s fees are lower than Burnaby’s), how to address the different membership categories, and the possibility of a new name.
BBOT will also consider the board’s funding arrangement with the City of Burnaby and explore how New West could “come to the table” to reflect that funding.
Dhaliwal formally asked city staff to study how Burnaby benefits from the existing relationship with the board and report back on the implications of the merger.
“I think we need to do our due diligence anyway, so we can provide input before you get too far,” Dhaliwal said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated Burnaby paid $260,190 to BBOT in 2023. That is incorrect. The correct amount is $135,190.
