Akwesasne Chamber of Commerce Introduces New Board

On Thursday, February 11, 2016, the Akwesasne Chamber of Commerce held their monthly meeting at Mohawk Mulisha Paintball. They invited Indian Time to help them announce to the community that a new board is in place, and the members are:

Casey Swamp – President

Ian Oakes – Vice President

Andria Cooke – Treasurer

Chantelle White – Secretary

The Chamber meets monthly, and each month they choose a member business to host the event and spotlight their business, which they started in January 2015.

"This has been great for the businesses we have spotlighted in the past year. It gives the owner the opportunity to highlight their products or services," said President Casey Swamp.

If a member doesn't have a physical business or a location big enough, the chamber will do a co-spotlight for them, where they bring their products for display and talk about their business.

The first 30-45 minutes of the meeting is spent on the business spotlight, with a question and answer period following if there are any. At Mohawk Mulisha, a demonstration of a paintball round was shown and attendees were invited to shoot a paintball gun.

Mohawk Mulisha owners and staff say they want to provide more activities for kids in Akwesasne. They hope to expand one day to have more activities like a rock climbing wall. They also hope to have tournaments that would attract national attention to the area.

Following the spotlight portion of the meeting, there is a discussion that includes the issues concerning members, upcoming events, and chamber committees report on the status of their events. This is one of the many benefits of joining the Akwesasne Chamber of Commerce. Others include the Commerce Card and the Akwesasne Business Excellence Awards.

"This year we have started a commerce card. The commerce card is a business-to-business card with various discounts and the different member businesses, similar to the gold card the schools sell each year. Our partnership with the North Country Chamber of Commerce offers different benefits such as reduced power bills, health insurance and many others," said Swamp.

This year they have 14 businesses on the card.

In 2015 the Chamber held the first annual Akwesasne Business Excellence Awards (ABEA) at the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino where businesses were recognized for their efforts and accomplishments. They plan to hold the second annual this year.

Some other initiatives the chamber is working on are the 3rd annual golf tournament, 4th annual Cruisin for Kids car show with Swamps Performance Automotive, and our annual dinner.

Swamp said, "We will be attending a roundtable discussion with the city of Cornwall and their chamber next week to discuss building relationships with Cornwall. We're also looking into different ways to increase membership to support one another."

"I would also like to thank our past board members for their time and efforts over the past two years. Dwayne Thomas, Ashley Thompson, Roy Burns and Randy Hart," added Swamp.

A business can become a member by visiting the Akwesasne Chamber of Commerce Facebook page or by sending an email to [email protected] and requesting an application. They can also contact any one of our board members for this information.

"I personally believe that networking with other businesses in Akwesasne is the biggest benefit our members receive. There is a wealth of knowledge from seasoned business owners and there is not usually a question that doesn't get answered at the table," said Swamp.