Personalities behind the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce (1994-1997)

Union Station is the inter-city railway station for Winnipeg, Manitoba. Union Station opened in 1911.

John Granelli (1994)

For John Granelli, his year was filled with some regret — since it was the year the Winnipeg Jets left for good. At the same time, the whole city came together and there was huge community spirit.

On the national scene, the opposite was happening the country was being pulled apart as a result of the referendum on Quebec separation. The Chamber spent many hours talking about it, Granelli says.

At The Chamber level, there was also change. Bill Draper, The Chamber’s general manager, retired and Shelley Morris stepped in, faced with a huge challenge of introducing new business processes to ensure a more profitable organization.

“One of the highlights of my term was going to an event with Shelley. She was introduced as Shelley Granelli. Laurie Mustard wrote a whole column about it in The Sun.”

Trevor Hayden (1995)

When he thought things couldn’t get worse, Trevor Hayden discovered they could—not only were the Jets leaving, it looked like Boeing would also leave. He had his hands full, but he enjoyed his time at The Chamber.

“Working with the people at The Chamber was just such an honour. Shelley was a joy to work with. I stole her from The Chamber,” Hayden says, explaining they later went into business together.

During his year, he did a lot of traveling both through The Chamber— he made several trips to Japan related to the Kansai-Canada West Business Forum — and as president of the National Coffee Service Association, flying to Puerto Rico for weekend board meetings.

If he has one regret, it’s choosing not to meet Prince Charles. “I broke my ankle and I didn’t want to show any weakness… I didn’t want to be seen on crutches. I wanted The Chamber in a position of strength.”

Carol-Ann Borody Siemens (1997)

The whole issue of Aboriginal business and employment was front and centre for Carol-Ann Borody Siemens. The Chamber realized the Aboriginal community would play a key role in future job creation and things needed to be in place.

Downtown revitalization and the Capital Region were also key issues. She met with then Premier Gary Filmon on the Capital Region to discuss the need to work co-operatively. She also met with Paul Martin, as federal finance minister, to send the message that The Chamber didn’t want revenues to go into a general pot.

“When you’re chair, you have this network behind you. When you speak, you’re very conscious of the members behind you.”

For her, The Chamber was a big part of her life.

“The role (of chair) is very powerful anyway, but things ramped up exponentially when I got married in September and then passed the gavel later that month,” Borody-Siemens says, adding she met her husband Peter through The Chamber and got married in The Chamber Club.

She’ll never forget the unbelievable effort the staff put into her wedding, especially the ice sorbet cups that looked like teardrops.