Tri Chamber Alliance Wins EDCO Award

(February 14, 2018) Cornwall, ON – The Tri Chamber Alliance, a partnership between the Cornwall and Area Chamber of Commerce, Akwesasne Chamber of Commerce and Greater Massena Chamber of Commerce, with support from the Cross-Border Partnership Program (led by the Cornwall and the Counties CFDC) and the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, took home the honours in the "Cross Border Collaboration" category at the Economic Developers Council of Ontario (EDCO) awards of excellence in Toronto on February 7th, 2018.

The Tri Chamber Alliance is a partnership on the brink of signing a historic Memorandum of Understanding, the first of its kind to be signed between a Canadian, American and First Nations Chamber of Commerce. This group will work to better strengthen the voice of business as a region.

"This is the result of a successful Tri Chamber Alliance that has been on-going for the past few years through a series of meet and greets, collaborations and relationship building. We are extremely honoured to receive this award and we continue to build our relationship for a stronger regional economic impact," said Kylee Tarbell, Assistant Director, Department of Tehotiiennawakon, Mohawk Council of Akwesasne.

"The Tri Chamber Alliance has had a successful development because of the mutual respect and understanding of each other's different cultures. We all work together because we have one common vision: to grow our regional economic impact that's beneficial to everyone involved," said Casey Swamp, President, Akwesasne Chamber of Commerce.

"Our Chamber is truly honoured. We are proud to be working with our partners together to make our region even better," said Nathan Lashomb, Executive Director, Greater Massena Chamber of Commerce.

"We are a group that is respectful of different cultures and we can be role models on an international level to show how we can work together without the boundaries of culture or country," said Lezlie Strasser, Executive Manager, Cornwall and Area Chamber of Commerce.

"This award is a phenomenal achievement. It's often overlooked how great the collaboration is here between the business community and its First Nations partners. We are ahead of the curve when it comes to developing these types of partnerships and I can't wait to see what lies ahead," said Simon McLinden, Project Manager, Cornwall and the Counties Community Futures Development Corporation.

The MOU is set to be signed on February 23rd, 2018, the eve of the Cornwall and Area Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence awards Gala.