Prior to joining the Chamber team Sherry spent 14 years in the newspaper industry moving through the ranks as a journalist, editor and managing editor. She was the second woman in history to command the daily's newsroom and co-ordinated several special projects such as establishing a new weekly newspaper which received a Newspapers Atlantic award in its first year for best community news, redesigning a regional business magazine, collaborating on projects with Canadian Living magazine to showcase local business.
In 2018 Sherry was presented with the Chamber of Commerce Executives of Canada, Executive of the Year Award for Chambers with less than 500 members and was one of 30 people across Canada to be accredited as a Chamber professional.
A history enthusiast, she has co-authored two local history books, with a third underway. She has a love of baking that she has shared as a 4-H cake decorating leader in the past. She is presently the treasurer of the North Shore Bavarian Society, an organization that hosts the largest Oktoberfest east of Montreal which raises more than $40,000 annual to provide to community groups along with scholarships. She is also the vice-president of the 596 Phoenix Air Cadet support committee.
Sherry explained the workings of the Chamber of Commerce. It is the voice of business in the community and has been for a long time. It will be 130 years old next year. There are currently about 430 business members in our community. 88% of them have less than 25 employees. The Chamber hosts about 40 events per year. With a staff of 3, the chamber relies on volunteer and is a member dues driven non-profit organization that is networked to other chambers regionally and nationally.
The chamber provides a range of services and benefits to its members including networking, educational opportunities and business advocacy. There are also direct benefits like group insurance and member to member discounts. Consumers are 63% more likely to make a purchase from a Chamber member than from a non-member.
The chamber partners for many other organizations for community and business development. They offer scholarships to students and support for other non-profits. Chamber members are working with others on strategies for initiatives such as physician attraction.
Many of the events that the Chamber runs are open to non-members and she encourage potential members to consider joining. Both Sherry and the Chamber are accredited by the national body. Accreditation is a formal acknowledgement that chambers of commerce have been successfully evaluated against rigorous national standards of policy, service, and performance and is a real achievement.
Sherry was thanked by Wayne Gillis.