Author: Steve Rhone, 2023 MBOT Chair, Present & CEO, Weston Forest

As I sit here contemplating the year to come, I am humbled by the honour of having the opportunity to serve as Chair of your Mississauga Board of Trade. MBOT has been fortunate to have had many great leaders, including Lucie Shaw of Nurse Next Door and Ken Tencer of Spyder Works. During each of their tenures, I have observed them grapple with unexpected adversities.  I hope that I am able to navigate whatever challenges come next with the same success. Thank you both for all you have done over the past two incredibly challenging years.

MBOT has built a wonderful community of people and programming dedicated to improving opportunities for businesses. From a resolute staff and dedicated volunteers serving our members, to the Mississauga Economic Resiliency Group (MERG), an initiative of MBOT that has been born out of the challenges created by the pandemic. We continue building on the foundations that have been established, assisting our business community with tools to remain resilient in the face of challenges and uniting with a strong voice for our business community.

Despite the obvious challenges of inflation and higher interest rates, coupled with ongoing labour challenges, Mississauga is bursting with potential. Our city continues to plan and build for the future with the ongoing development of the downtown City Centre, the Hurontario LRT, and major developments on our waterfront. Mississauga remains a destination of choice, with the expectation of hundreds of thousands of new residents in the coming decades. We have a business community that is diverse, including companies in the creative sector, sciences, logistics and transportation, and educational institutions, to name a few. Many of these companies have their head office located in Mississauga.

Mississauga remains resilient and ready for the future. We must remain focused on advocating for all our businesses in the city and create opportunities for people to come together and share ideas, best practices, and opportunities with each other. I look forward to influencing the continued success of the business community as Chair of the Mississauga Board of Trade.

It is a privilege to serve you all, and I am excited to take on the challenges to come in 2023 together.

About the Author

Mississauga Board of Trade