Delta Chamber of Commerce News Release

ICE business resource exchange starts up in tight economy

DELTA, BC (July 22, 2009) Delta businesses feeling the pinch in the current tight economy and finding production below normal could get a boost from an exchange of labour, facilities or equipment, with other companies at no cost through the Delta Chamber of Commerce.

After a two-month feasibility study the Delta Chamber has found that there is considerable support in the business community for its proposed Industrial Capacity Exchange (ICE) program. The program, which simply allows businesses to post information about their available resources and links on the Chamber website, matches them with those looking for similar resources for a temporary period.

A survey of local businesses, as part of the feasibility study, indicated that 91 percent were in favour of program like ICE, half at least to some extent (45% very much and 46% somewhat in favour). The business owners also indicated in the survey that Services had the greatest potential of being shared, followed in descending order by Personnel, Facilities and Equipment.

These survey results are the findings of six British Columbia Institute of Technology Business School students who recently completed the feasibility study for the Delta Chamber of Commerce under BCIT’s Directed Studies Program, available to all sizes of businesses and organizations. The multi-disciplinary research team, of six students — three from Business, two from Information Technology and one from Human Resources – presented its report in May and now the Delta Chamber has decided to proceed with the program.

Business Growth was the top priority by far in considering resource sharing rather than downsizing and cost cutting, according to the business owners surveyed. Forming Strategic Alliances with other companies was also a priority.

When it came to different sizes of firms – self-employed, small firm, medium firm and large firm — there was not a major difference among them in terms of their being supportive of resource sharing, according to the survey.

Delta Chamber of Commerce President Greg Muirhead says: “We support our business members by offering discounted services, speaking up to governments when business issues arise and networking among businesses. The ICE program is another form of networking and we are offering this support when there is a greater than normal need for it. We want businesses in Delta to succeed and this is one way we can help make that happen. The Delta Chamber is delighted with quality and usefulness of the feasibility study and we were impressed by the intelligence, hard work and dedication of the six students on the research team. I highly recommend BCIT’s Directed Studies Program to businesses who want research on their markets. Many thanks to Delta Chamber past president, John Appleby, who developed the ICE concept and facilitated our connection with BCIT.”

Supervising the research project was Fred Mandl, of the BCIT Business faculty, who says: “This ICE feasibility study proved to be another ‘win-win’ for both our students in their final semester at the School of Business and the Delta Chamber as an employer. It was important for the Chamber to find out if there was a demand for the ICE program and the students had an opportunity to apply and to show-case their talents. We have carried similar projects for a number of companies and organizations in recent years and we are pleased how well the Directed Studies Program has worked for all.”

The Delta Chamber of Commerce is a 400-member association of businesses in Delta acting as the voice of business locally, provincially and nationally, and providing discounted services, learning opportunities and business networking.

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CONTACTS:
Greg Muirhead
Chair
Delta Chamber of Commerce
604-351-2920

Fred Mandl
Business School
BCIT
604-816-4902

Patrick Gray
Research team spokesperson
604-723-2185
or 604-589-3887

Delta Chamber of Commerce
6201 – 60th Avenue
Delta, BC
V4K 4E2
tel. 604-946-4232
fax 604-946-5285
www.deltachamber.com