Ketchen feeling ‘fortunate’ as chamber’s new GM

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This article was published 04/06/2022 (1371 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been a week of new beginnings and fond farewells for the Brandon Chamber of Commerce.

Not only did the organization appoint a new president and board of directors during its last luncheon of the season on Thursday, it also sent off its longest-tenured employee.

After 14 years as general manager of the chamber, Carolynn Cancade has stepped down to explore new opportunities.

To fill her spot, the chamber has appointed a Brandon-born replacement who has spent the last two weeks shadowing Cancade as he gets up to speed.

The new general manager is Connor Ketchen, who was previously Workplace Education Manitoba’s director of operations for southern Manitoba.

He’s a graduate of Neelin High School who went on to play football as a middle linebacker at the University of Regina before also studying at Nova Scotia Community College and St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S.

While working at Workplace Education Manitoba, Ketchen promoted essential skills like reading, writing and numeracy at Manitoba employers as well as help them grow and train employees. He said he believes those skills will be handy in his new job.

“In the relationships I’ll have and make here, I’ll be able to provide insight if they’re having any areas of issue in particular or just want the opportunity to find some funded training,” he said.

Part of the appeal of the job for Ketchen is to have a role in shaping the future of his hometown and the future of his two daughters, aged two and six, with his spouse, as they grow up.

When the position became available, he wasn’t necessarily sure he would get the job but reached out anyway out of a desire to have a greater local impact after working a job that took him across the province.

Part of his vision will be to embrace the “no business left behind” message about getting businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic and back to growth that past-president Barry Cooper highlighted during his farewell speech on Thursday.

“We still have to make sure that all of our angles are covered, whatever funding is out there, whatever opportunity is out there,” Ketchen said. “We want to discuss with our businesses what they should expect and a big piece of it is the ability to listen, hear what individual and unique problems have happened to a specific business. Large scale, small scale, there’s a lot of overlap.”

At Thursday’s luncheon, plenty of comments were made about Cancade’s impact on the organization alongside slight teasing about how Ketchen had big shoes to fill.

“I got to know Carolynn over the last two weeks and I echo all those statements,” Ketchen said. “I can kinda see from the inside about the culture that was in some ways built and other ways maintained. She has huge stamp on the chamber and always will. So I feel very fortunate to come in during such a smooth transition with the opportunity to learn from somebody that’s created this much.”

He said Cancade taught him about the importance of communication, flexibility, scheduling, delegation and support networks.

New chamber president Tanya LaBuick is looking forward to having the chance to develop a new path for the organization with Ketchen. She’s also grateful for Cancade’s work over the years, having been on the chamber’s board of directors since 2017 and a member of the organization previous to that.

“When you look at the timespan that Carolynn has been in that position, you can absolutely say she’s left the organization better than she found it,” LaBuick said. “She’s [improved] everything from our member benefits to our community impact and getting us visible to things like the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce or other industries. I think she’s done an exemplary job of that.”

Though LaBuick said she believes that everyone will have a different answer, she thinks the greatest impact Cancade made was her strength in implementing policies and managing all the moving parts that make the chamber flow.

Beyond being an advocate for businesses, Cancade will be remembered for being an advocate for Brandon itself.

With Ketchen, LaBuick said she believes the chamber has someone who is young, smart and who knows how to be a team player.

“Investing in our youth is, I think, imperative to the health of our community and our business community in general,” she said. “I think he’s well positioned for the job, I think his experience his experience in government and in private business and — having played on a sports team at the university levels — understands team dynamics.”

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