EEEKHighlights of the West End BIA’s 2014 AGM
Annual General Meeting A Success
Your 2014-15 Board of Directors
- John Webber, Royal Bank of Canada
- Tania Gorton, Room In Order
- David Buddle, Prima Properties
- Michel Duprat, Fountainhead Pub
- Lisa Arthurs, The Quick Nickel
- Mary Phelps, Vancity
- Joe Skocan, Joe’s No Frills
- Gary Gohren, Gohren & Associates
- John Nicholson, Listel Canada
- Jacqui McMullen, Times Square Suites
- Paul Puratich, 1789 Restaurant
Tributes to Lyn Hellyar and Jim Deva
The West End business community lost two leaders this past year.
Lyn Hellyar passed away July 10, 2014. She was instrumental in the expansion of the Davie Village BIA into the West End BIA. Lyn was also very involved in supporting the growth of the BIA BC network and creating a Vancouver BIA Partnership. Both organizations are contributing to WEBIA’s ongoing success.
Donations in Lyn’s name can be made to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre.
Jim Deva of Little Sister’s Book and Art Emporium was a business leader and a community icon. His sudden passing September 21, 2014 came as a shock to us all. Jim was a director of the West End BIA in 2002 and served until 2005. He served again in 2008-09. We have started to put out feelers for an appropriate community tribute to Jim. He will be missed.
Donations in Jim’s name can be made to the LOUD Scholarship Foundation.
AGM Highlights
The AGM was an opportunity to report on past activities and successes. The Chair, David Buddle, set the tone by touching on the Board’s commitment to long-term thinking. He used the term ‘Cathedral Thinking’ as a short hand for developing strategies and taking actions that leave long term legacies. Examples of this are reflected in our participation in the West End Community Plan and spearheading a decorative lighting plan for the neighbourhood.
WEBIA’s Committee Chairs presented short updates on everything from the completion of our governance overhaul to beautification projects and promotions.
In 2011, WEBIA received 42 recommendations aimed at updating our governance. John Nicholson, the Governance Committee Chair, was pleased to announce that all recommendations had been addressed. Mary Phelps, Chair of the Maintenance & Beautification Committee, reported that in addition to litter pick-up and landscaping WEBIA would start wrapping utility boxes to make the commercial streets more attractive. The Urban Planning Committee referenced new lighting in place along Davie Village and announced plans to start lighting banners along Denman Street.
The longest report was delivered by John Webber who provided attendees with a detailed overview of a dozen promotional initiatives completed in the past year. He touched on our award-winning #WeAmaze branding, aggressive tourism development, our expanded event sponsorship and the rapid growth of our online presence. He introduced our ‘Putting the WEB in WEBIA’ panel featuring Stephen Irving, Nelson Mouellic and Myke Preuss who impressed members with our Instagram photo contest, new website, and overall growth of our online profile.
In terms of financial reporting the 2013-14 Year-End Financial Statements were presented, reviewed and passed. Our 2015-16 Presentation Budget was similarly presented, reviewed and passed.
Businesses interested in more details are encouraged to contact Stephen Regan at 604-696-0144 or s.regan@www.westend.weareloki.com.
Door Prize Winner
The lucky winner of an iPad mini was Eschrat Amiry, owner of Rose Stitch in Denman Place Mall. Congrats, Eschrat!
