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The power of partnerships with
THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS
During the pandemic, many businesses and associations collaborated to support one another to maintain their connection with, and provide value to, their members. As we emerge into a postpandemic era, the importance of maintaining these partnerships means we move forward and build stronger together.
BILD Brian Hahn, Chief Executive Officer
Thus far, 2022 has been a productive year for BILD Calgary Region and its members. Our Government Relations team has been actively engaged in various initiatives including ongoing dialogue with the City of Calgary regarding offsite levy rates and available serviced lots as part of the new community business case process. Amongst other key factors, lot supply will be important in maintaining Calgary’s current competitive position in terms of affordability. Our team has also been collaborating with the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) to promote netzero climate initiatives. We are also excited to host the 2021 BILDCR Awards in person this year at the TELUS Convention Centre after a twoyear hiatus while we navigated the tough challenges presented by COVID19. These are important initiatives for our membership as we always look to advocate for Calgarians and those in the region to ensure choice and affordability are available.
BILD Calgary Region’s focus is always headlined by our objectives to maintain affordability and choice for Calgary and Calgary region consumers. We will continue to host and coordinate over 20 different BILD committees including the climate and environment, financial professionals, economic advisory committee. We see response to the various climate initiatives as critical to continuing to be excellent stewards of the environment, maintain affordability, and execute achievable plans. Being at the table for these discussions is an important part of what BILDCR stands for in being the voice of the building and development industry in Calgary. BILDCR will continue to work collaboratively with the City of Calgary and other regional municipalities to ensure our members can provide Calgarians with choice and affordable options.
Since the onset of the COVID19 public health emergency, our members have showcased their innovation and adaptability to stick handle through unprecedented times. A key take away from 2020 was maintaining communication and open dialogue with members and stakeholders. Our members, at least in the first part of 2022, are anticipating continued growth. As we continue to navigate COVID there is a lot of uncertainty, however, our members continue to be industry leaders in adapting and innovating.
At the outset of the pandemic, there was tremendous collaboration between industry associations on things such as safety protocols to ensure all of our members collectively could remain open for business. As we emerge from the COVID19 public health emergency, continued collaboration will continue to focus on streamlining policy and regulation and sharing creative solutions to the challenges of the supply chain.
NAIOP Ryan Sirski, President
As we emerge from the pandemic, NAIOP Calgary returns to the basics as we aim to create opportunities for our members to reconnect through networking and educational events. Strong relationships are one of the foundations of our industry and our association can play an important role in bringing people in the industry back together.
NAIOP has always been active as an advocacy group and 2022 will be no exception. There are a number of priorities for us this year, but key areas of focus will be nonresidential property taxes, the industrial growth strategy, and the downtown plan. Many of our members are city builders and we will continue to advocate for ways to ensure our industry and Calgary continue to be a competitive place to build, live, and invest.
The past 24 months has been difficult for the commercial real estate industry and there are still many challenges ahead. At NAIOP Calgary, we really challenged ourselves to find new ways to provide value to our members and by focusing on that, we achieved a lot during these challenging times. I was especially proud that during the pandemic, along with NAIOP Edmonton, we were able to expand our annual Battle of the Prairies case competition to more schools and students, further engaging the next generation of leaders in our industry. Through the hard work of our Director, Strategic Initiatives, Guy Huntingford and our Government Affairs Committee, we
were also able to continue with our important advocacy work and in many ways were able to strengthen it over the pandemic. Our industry and members provided a tremendous amount of support the past 2 years and I am pleased that we were able to adapt our association to continue serving the needs of our membership.
The collaboration between construction and industry associations is something I am especially proud of. Working together, we have a stronger voice to help find constructive and positive solutions to the major issues facing our members. I am also excited about the opportunity to collaborate with our fellow industry associations on some inperson networking events this year. There are a lot of great ideas to be shared amongst our members and I look forward to helping further strengthen these relationships.
BOMA Lloyd Suchet, Executive Director
The last two years have been tough on many industries, and the impacts have been acute to our members particularly as it compounded the challenges already faced by a scaled back energy sector. So, our most immediate need is to support the industry in repopulating commercial spaces hardest hit by the pandemic. As the office sector has been especially hard hit in this respect, this means sharing knowhow and best practices to provide property management teams with the tools to safely bring back workers. We are also heavily focused on continuing to contribute to the unprecedented efforts to reanimate downtown with vibrancy and to attract new sectors and tenant types to fill vacant space and further diversify our economy.
In addition to further supporting the Greater Downtown Plan, our industry is a key stakeholder in the Green Line LRT project that connects even more Calgarians to downtown and the rest of the growing transit network. We know that amenities such as transit play a key role in attracting workers and businesses to our city. But obviously we are closely monitoring the construction impacts on buildings to ensure minimal disruption.
There is also a conversation around nonresidential property taxes happening at City Hall between industry and government, and we at BOMA continue to advocate for the establishment of a more sustainable system that provides businesses with a more competitive tax rate and avoids the types of tax shifts that we’ve seen over the past few years that have led to significant tax increases to a number of small and mediumsized businesses.
Finally, and this is a very recent development, but we are a part of efforts among the city and the entire downtown and Beltline community to address the public safety and public disorder problems impacting residents, workers, and the vulnerable populations in the area. The focus is on making immediate improvements to enable all Calgarians to feel safe, but also recognizing that the root causes require long term, compassionate solutions.
The key to associations like ours, especially in times like these, is remaining hyperfocused on the question of relevancy. Our communities aren’t so large that we can’t take regular pulse checks on the membership, either through formal methods like surveys, or less formal methods like a phone call or a cup of coffee. So, I am also sure to ask very specific questions about what issues are most pressing, and how we as an association can support that. I think the same concept applies to companies and their customers listening to what they are saying, and then ensuring your structure is nimble enough to be able shift direction as necessary. I am also a big proponent of strategic planning as a way to formalize some of these processes at set intervals, but that is another topic!
Whether we are speaking to regulators, government, or the industry, our messages are always louder when there is more of us voicing them. Governments have at any given time multiple competing interests and messages being provided to them, and so the more we as associations can partner on issues of shared concern and present a united message, the more success we will have. On a broader level, we all have a shared interest in the success of our city and so the partnerships we share with groups like the CCA are paramount. n
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