Welcome to the Chamber

The Grand Bend & Area Chamber of Commerce has been around since 1957. We are a small yet active Chamber serving businesses located in towns, villages and hamlets along Lake Huron’s shoreline corridor.

Our Members are located as far away as Sarnia and Goderich as well as closer to home in Arkona, Dashwood, Exeter, Forest, Grand Bend, Ipperwash, Northville, Parkhill, Port Franks, St. Joseph, Thedford and Zurich – and all points in between!

The Chamber had its roots in an earlier Grand Bend Promotion Committee in the 1950s which worked to promote tourism to the area and still today we provide Tourism & Visitor Services to the Municipality of Lambton Shores at the Welcome Centre located in Grand Bend, just 500-metres from the Beach that started it all.

Restaurants – Patio, Takeout & Delivery

Visit Shorelinetogo.ca to order food for takeout or delivery from the restaurants you love in Arkona, Bayfield, Blyth, Exeter, Forest, Grand Bend, Hensall, Kettle & Stony Point, Ipperwash, Northville, Parkhill, Port Franks, Thedford and Zurich!

Covid-19 Resources for Business

GOVERNMENT

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

ONTARIO GOVERNMENT

GRANT PORTAL OPEN JANUARY 15, 2021: for funding in support of PPE costs (up to $1,000) and rebates for Municipal property and education taxes AND energy costs. Covers period beginning March 17, 2020 to present day.

AGENCIES

Lambton County

Sarnia Lambton Economic Partnership (SLEP)

Sarnia Lambton Business Development Corporation (SLBDC)

November 16, 2020 – NEW ROUND of Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF) support for small businesses in Lambton County announced!  If you were unable to access federal or provincial relief funding programs or were unable to obtain a loan/credit from traditional financial institutions, you may be able to access up to $40,000 for operational costs, staff related costs and costs related to return to operations for businesses that were closed. See more information on SLBDC’s Regional Relief and Recovery Fund page. 

Sarnia Lambton Workforce Development Board (SLWDB) Job Board!

  • Interactive job board – search by map and list views (nicknamed “Whistle” for it’s acronym WISL or Work In Sarnia Lambton)Visit:  https://www.slwdb.org/wisl/

Huron County

Huron County Economic Development

Community Futures Huron

Community Futures Huron (CFH) is a non-profit Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC) supported by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. Check their website regularly and get on their mailing list to access all kinds of resources including FREE WEBINARS. They have an entire section dedicated to Covid-19 business resources.

Business Development Corporation (BDC)

Have put together a great set of business financial planning and strategy tools for the entrepreneur, divided into 6 sections with each section providing easily digestible steps complete with downloadable Excel spreadsheets, Word planning documents etc. – visit COVID-19: Business planning tools for entrepreneurs

Workplace Safety & Prevention Services

TOURISM

Southwest Ontario Tourism Corporation

  • Restart & Reimagine webinars (pre-recorded & published) designed to help tourism-based businesses with marketing, sales, business planning and reopening tactics to survive Covid-19 impact.

DineSafe Guide by ORHMA

Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association (ORHMA) has developed a guide for restaurant reopening addressing restaurant guest flow such as welcoming guests and inspiring confidence, table arrangement and seating, menus and how guests order while limiting “hand offs”, empowering staff, bars  and beverage stations and a list of resources. Visit:  dinesafe.ca

Restaurants Canada

Restaurants Canada has put together 10 webinar sessions and guide (PDF) to help operators reopen, reinvent and rebuild their businesses. Sessions cover Profit Model Scenarios, Navigating Landlord and Tenant Agreements, Rebuilding Your Workforce, Winning Your Customers Back, Leveraging the Supply Chain for the Future.

Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO)

Dedicated section of their website with links and updates for the tourism industry related to COVID-19.

Safe Travel Program – TIAO has been chosen by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) to administer the Safe Travels Stamp in Canada. The Safe Travels Stamp is an international symbol designed to allow travellers to recognize governments and companies around the world, which have adopted health and hygiene, standardized protocols – so consumers can experience ‘Safe Travels’. Apply here. Look who has already applied (PDF).

Lodgify

Ontario Tourism Innovation Lab

  • FREE virtual workshops aimed at creating sustainable digital adoption for hard-hit tourism and direct-to-consumer businesses. Tools and templates for take-away learning. tourisminnovation.ca

CHAMBER & BUSINESS ORGS

Grand Bend & Area Chamber of Commerce

Ontario Chamber of Commerce

  • Special Covid-19 Survival Kit on their website with key announcements, updates on the latest information and available resources and programs to support businesses and their owners.

Canadian Business Resilience Network (CBRN)

  • Government of Canada and Canadian Chamber of Commerce established the Canadian Business Resilience Network to help Canadian businesses navigate the COVID-19 reality and prepare for recovery.

Retail Council of Canada

To assist retailers in their reopening planning, Retail Council of Canada, in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group and retailers from across Canada, have put together a Recovery Playbook webpage on which you can find and download quick and handy Retail Recovery Checklists and other recovery and re-start resources. Each “Playbook” covers a specific area and soon to be released will be Playbooks on Retail Operations, Merchandising and Marketing, Omni-channel and Finances. You can also subscribe for their Recovery Playbook updates.

OTHER

Revinate

PPE Supplies

If you’re having trouble sourcing personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer and other similar types of supplies, give these folks a try:

KPMG

Dutton Employment Law Firm

Tax Templates Inc.

  • Visit their website for up-to-date Excel spreadsheets ready for download and use to calculate the “Temporary Wage Subsidy” and the “Emergency Wage Subsidy” amounts.

“Stop the Spread” Business Information Hotline

  • The Government of Ontario has launched a toll-free line (1-888-444-3659) to provide support to Ontario businesses who have questions about the province’s Covid-19 directives and how emergency measures impact their business. Call the Stop the Spread Business Information Line Monday to Sunday, 8:30am to 5pm.

Municipal Accommodation Tax

In April of this year, the Chamber sent a letter to Mayor and Council outlining its concerns and recommendations regarding the Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT tax) and the particular business climate within Lambton Shores and surrounding area regarding short term rentals, the good and the bad. A similar letter was provided to Tourism Sarnia Lambton in November.

Read the Letter (PDF)

Handy Member Quicklinks:

Business Support & Partner Organizations