Chamber Board of Directors welcomes five new faces

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he 2018/2019 Board of Directors of the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture reveals five new faces in its ranks. The 134^th annual general meeting turned out to be one of the most keenly contested election of directors to the board of the chamber in many years.

Among the new faces are Mr. Jonathan Johannes who was elected first Vice President from a field of four nominees; Dr. Alison Gajadhar of KMA Consulting; Bruno Didier of Bank of Nova Scotia; Siobhan James-Alexander of Digicel St. Lucia Ltd., and Donna Hinkson of Sagicor Life.

Returning to the board are Karen Fontenelle of Caribbean Metals, who now serves as the new president. Trevor Louisy of LUCELEC, Cheryl Renwick of Renwick & Company, Ross Gardner of Carasco and Mr. Jason King who was elected unopposed as second Vice President. Mr. Martin Dorville, will serve as immediate past president having operated as president of the chamber for the past two consecutive terms.

During the 134^th Annual General Meeting the former president was able to deliver an outstanding report on his tenure, with a call for continued support for the work of the body and a commitment by the incoming president to stay the course on the transformational journey that the previous board had embarked upon.

Excluding the position of 2^nd Vice President to which Mr. Jason King of St. Lucia Distillers was elected to unopposed, all positions, including that of President, was contested. A clear show of great interest in serving and participating in the affairs of the most recognized and respected private sector organization on the island. A number of chamber members signaled an interest in serving on the board of directors before the meeting, so it was no surprise when eleven candidates were- nominated to fill seven positions on the Board. The Articles of the Chamber require all board members to retire every year with everyone being eligible for reelection.

The audited financial statements of the chamber revealed a marked improvement, with growing membership and increased revenue from non–membership sources. Meanwhile the Secretariat was able to report on a more vibrant engaged and resourced plan to deliver increasing value and service to the Business Community.

— Source: The St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture