Good afternoon Chamber members and invited guests.

I would like to thank you all for attending this afternoon, and
welcome to the 2016 Annual General Meeting.

Today is a day of transition for the Chamber of Commerce and
its membership, as Kyle Broadhurst becomes our new
President. It has been an honour and privilege to have served
as Chamber President for the past year, and I have been proud
to work with a dedicated and motivated Council, staff, and
membership. Our efforts over the past 12 demonstrate how the
Chamber of Commerce supports, promotes, and protects the
local business sector and the Cayman Islands community.

Each of you have been provided with a copy of the AGM report,
but I would like to review briefly what has been a very
successful year for the Chamber. Before we do so, however,
we need to address the minutes from 2015.

The minutes from the 2015 Annual General Meeting were
circulated prior to today’s event. If everyone is happy with them,
we would like to open the floor to have the minutes accepted. If
we can have a mover and a seconder, please.

Now that they are out of the way, we can begin with the 2016
review.

We started the year with a strategic planning session in
February, during which the Council and staff developed a brand
new, 3-year strategy. During the rest of the year, we
implemented some of our proposed strategies and they are
successfully in motion. One of these strategies was to improve
our standing with Government.

The Chamber’s relationship with Government grew stronger
over the course of 2016, and the Council established a
quarterly meeting schedule with caucus. We also introduced
focus groups, with the first set focussing on Immigration taking
place in June.

We ran a second set in October focussing on the costs of doing
business. During these focus groups, a diverse mix of Chamber
members provided their opinions on the Immigration
Department and business costs, and we compiled an in-depth
report which was then presented to the membership and
Government. These focus groups have been effective in finding
out more about your issues and the Chamber will continue to
run these in 2017.

We established three new committees – one of which focuses
on Government Relations. As the Chair of this committee, I am
pleased to announce that we have made positive progress. For
example, we lobbied Government along with the Cayman
Contractors Association for additional resources for the
Planning Department and we were successful.

The combination of our focus group reports and the
Government Relations Committee demonstrates our
commitment to your opinions. Some of you had indicated that,
in the past, you felt your voice has not been heard. I wished to
change that, and I believe that we have. We hear you, and we
are ensuring that the Government takes notice. I am proud to
say that we have voiced your opinions wherever and whenever
possible, and the Chamber will continue to do so in 2017.

Alongside the Government Relations Committee, two additional
new committees were formed during 2016. Incoming President,
Kyle Broadhurst, chairs the Community & Membership
Development Committee, and he motivated members to
organise events and actions which will be introduced this year.

He has organised 3 subcommittees, which tackle different
aspects of life in the Cayman Islands. For example, one
subcommittee is brainstorming ways to improve the safety and
attractiveness of our roads, and they will begin work on
mangrove restoration strategies later this year.

The final Committee ties in with another important campaign
which was started last year. In 2016, the Marketing and
Communications Committee began work on the Economic
Growth Matters Initiative, and are developing marketing
strategies to best distribute and promote the initiative. Along
with an animation company and several supporting sponsors,
we have created 10 videos that will inform and educate the
Cayman Islands citizens on how economic growth is vital to our
future. We aired one video at the 2016 Legislative Luncheon,
and the whole series will be released during 2017.

I congratulate all three committees for their progress thus far,
and I wish them all the best for the future.

As I mentioned earlier, during my Presidency our relationship
with Government grew stronger. Throughout 2016 we not only
arranged a quarterly meeting schedule, but we also forged and
established new solid partnerships with Departments and
Ministries.

Our SME Workshops were such a success that the Ministry of
Financial Services, Commerce & Environment agreed to renew
their contract with the Chamber, meaning that we can continue
to support small-and-medium enterprises, as well as
entrepreneurs, in our community.

The Mentoring Cayman Programme – in partnership with the
Ministry of Community Affairs, Youth & Sports – matched a
record number of 48 high-achieving students with prominent
business leaders and Government officials,

We also worked alongside Government Departments on a
range of projects, including Project Future.

At this time, we would like to recognise the Chamber Members
who have been particularly engaged with the Chamber during
the last 12 months, and who have shown us extra support. For
this, I’d like to invite Chamber CEO, Wil Pineau, to join me.
(Wil’s Chamber Champions Speech)

We would also like to take this opportunity of recognition to
congratulate and thank some of our Council members for their
service to the Chamber.

Councillors Chris Kirkconnell, Roz Griffiths and Gary Rutty
have all spent time on the Chamber Council, and their efforts
have helped us to make the voices of our members heard
within Government and the Cayman Islands community. Both
Chris and Roz, if elected, will be continuing their involvement
on the Council by elevating to new positions, and it is with a
heavy heart that we say farewell to Gary, who is retiring from
the Council this year. It has been a pleasure to work with all
three of you, and I look forward to working alongside you in the
future.

It is also with a heavy heart that we say farewell to Colin Reid,
who is also stepping down from the Chamber Council. Colin
has spent several years volunteering on the Chamber Council,
and he most recently served as the Secretary. Colin’s expertise
has been vital to our projects and policies over the years, and
we wish him the very best of luck for the future.

The Chamber Council, staff and I would like to thank all four of
you for your dedicated service to the Chamber.

I now have the privilege of presenting the Volunteer of the Year
Award. The Leadership Cayman programme has been one of
our flagship programmes since its inception in 2009, and as
such we place a lot of emphasis on it. Every year, 25 members
of our business sector develop their leadership skills and
positively give back to the community. The programme would
not be as effective and influential as it is without the hard-work
and commitment of the programme’s volunteers, especially the
Class’ Chair. Therefore, it is my honour to award the 2017
Class Chair, Faramarz Romer, with this year’s Volunteer of the
Year Award.

Faramarz Romer dedicated his spare time to support the
programme and to ensure that the class projects have ran
smoothly. For his efforts, the Chamber offers our wholehearted
gratitude. The Chamber looks forward to working with him over
the course of 2017, and I wish him the very best.
I would like to thank the Chamber Council, CEO, our staff
(Kerry, Nicola, Nikita, Ross & Carolina) and membership for
their support during my Presidency. I am proud to say that,
together, we achieved some great accomplishments.. I will
continue to participate in Chamber events and programmes,
and I wish you all the best of luck for the future.

I would now like to introduce Chamber Treasurer, Wayne
Cowan, to the podium. Wayne has been an instrumental part of
the Chamber Council with his continued service as Treasurer. It
has been a delight to work alongside him, and I look forward to
working with him again in the future.

SOURCE: http://web.caymanchamber.ky/wcnews/NewsArticleDisplay.aspx?articleid=3163