Pandemic Effect on Small Busnisses via ZOOM
+ Fund set up for small businesses
Greg Durocher – BIO
In his 20th year as President and CEO of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, Greg has had extensive service to his community. While in the private sector, Greg Chaired the Business Improvement Area, and for 9 years represented the Preston area of Cambridge as City Councilor. In 2000 he ran for Mayor and lost by 26 votes to Doug Craig in the closest mayoral race in Cambridge’s history.
During his time on Cambridge City Council, Greg chaired numerous committees, and for of his 8 years on Council chaired the City’s Budget Task Force Committee. Greg led Cambridge to 9 consecutive budgets of zero increase in taxes, his first official motion on Council was a 1% decrease in municipal property tax for the 1992 budget year. As a member of City Council, Greg brought forward new concepts in private/public partnerships like the Ice Park, YMCA/City Pool Partnership and developed the Core Area Patrol Program in partnership with the Business Improvement Areas.
Greg brought his exuberant and exciting personality to the Chamber when he joined. Increasing the membership from just under 700 in 2000, to over 1800 today and making the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce one of the largest Chambers in Ontario by membership and number 7 in Canada. Greg’s out of the box thinking and marketing concepts brought the Chamber to new heights and has made Cambridge an International leader in Chamber development. From National programs he developed like “Funny Money” a High School financial literacy program that in 2011 won The Best Unconventional Chamber Project in the World at the World Chambers Congress in Mexico City, at the time, the only Chamber of Commerce in North America to ever win an International Award. Cambridge was the first Chamber to adopt video technology, all geared towards communication with the membership as well as the community. He routinely video blogs for an international audience on business issues called “A Moment for Business” that is distributed to over 3500 Chambers around the world.
He was recently appointed to the Executive Board of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, a global organization, as their International Chamber Executive responsible for international development of Chamber Professionals.
Greg is also on the Board of Directors of Drayton Entertainment an Ontario theatre company with 7 venues, Official Competition Judge for the World Chambers Congress and International Chamber of Commerce, and he is a Member of the Major Cities Council of ACCE North America.
In 2014 Greg was named Chamber Executive of the Year for Canada by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Executives Association. Greg was also a contributor to a Global Chamber paper called “Chamber 2025” a look to the future on what’s in store for business and Chambers in the next 10 years.
Greg is married to Lisa, they have 4 children. Greg and Lisa have a common hobby, working for the betterment of the Cambridge business community, a function they both enjoy very much, and they love spending time with family at their Cottage on Conestogo Lake. Greg’s only vice is his love for Golf, any chance he can get, which is not often enough from his perspective, but if he is not in the office, home, at a Chamber event, or at the cottage, you will find him on a golf course.