Collaboration is the key.
That according to the Chatham-Kent Growth Alliance (CKGA).
The alliance has local agricultural organizations, home builders, realtors and the Chatham-Kent Chamber of Commerce involved.
Member Carson Warrener said the organizations that are part of CKGA share common goals.
“Overall prosperity. We want life to get a little bit easier. It’s our responsibility to work together to achieve that,” he said. “Let’s unite on fronts that are collective and can make big changes.”
CKGA will lobby the municipality in certain areas, and offer expertise in others, Warrener, who is also a local realtor and developer, said.
“This entity will be very accessible and proactive,” he said. “We’re big on Chatham-Kent. We really want to focus on the positive, sustainable growth that serves the entire community. That in itself is a challenge.”
Warrener added human nature seems to be for people to knit pick, and that is not the intent.
“Elected leadership today just doesn’t get a lot of overall support when they make decisions that are beneficial. They get no feedback or validation for that,” he said.
But he added those elected officials certainly hear about it on other matters, especially on social media.
“It’s not fair to the municipality that they’re always blamed for doing something wrong. This is about how we can help them and make it a little bit simpler,” Warrener said.
CKGA evolved out of a conversation Warrener had with Jim Brackett, president of the Kent Federation of Agriculture. Warrener said they realized they shared common concerns and goals, attracting to issues like magnets.
“Jim had been seeking a unified voice on the farm-ag side. And he did an excellent job bringing them all together. On my end, I had gone from organized real estate and builders and tried to wrangle them all together,” he said.
The Housing Summit put on by the Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors earlier this summer brought everyone together, as the KFA sent representation, as well as the greenhouse industry.
“We were both thinking, ‘Let’s get all the voices in the same room,” Warrener said of he and Brackett.
Next up was the Chamber of Commerce, led by Rory Ring, who came on board as well.
“We’ve had a lot of ‘ah ha’ moments realizing there’s a lot of learning to be done for each group,” Warrener said. “That in itself creates a valuable resource for the municipality.”
The goal is to be supportive, not antagonistic.
“We’re hoping to be a centralized touchpoint. Maybe the municipality is working on something, and councillors can reach out. We can go back to our respective organizations to offer expertise or comment,” Warrener said. “We can sit here and take pot shots at others, but let’s instead look forward and get the ball to the proverbial finish line.”
The group will effectively introduce itself to the community – especially to candidates running for municipal election – by hosting an all-candidates night on Sept. 9 at the Chatham Armoury, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
There will be a roundtable discussion with mayoral candidates and leaders of the various sectors of CKGA. Following that, there will be ward tables where the public can gather around the ones they are interested in, Warrener said.
The alliance includes the Kent Federation of Agriculture, Grain Farmers of Ontario (District 2), CK Essex Christian Farmers Federation, CK Property Rights Association, Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers, Chatham-Kent Association of Realtors, Chatham-Kent Home Builders Association, and the Chatham-Kent Chamber of Commerce.
- Business Voice is a bi-monthly column in The Chatham Voice that highlights some of the achievements made and efforts underway in Chatham-Kent’s business community. Send your information to [email protected].
