Burnaby Board of Trade [BBOT] tackles social issues in a big way
Burnaby NewsLeader
By Wanda Chow
September 02, 2010

Homelessness. Immigration. Early childhood development.

These are the issues that typically preoccupy social service agencies, social workers, and people in need.

They're the subjects communities grapple with constantly while they strive to make their neighbourhoods better places to be.

They're now also the issues that have found a new, seemingly unlikely advocate: the Burnaby Board of Trade.

It's all part of the BBOT's "triple bottom line"–economic, social and environmental issues–that it strives to provide leadership on to the local business community, said BBOT president and CEO Darlene Gering….

"We live in communities, business operates in communities, it ultimately does affect business," Gering said of social issues….

Similarly, the BBOT put early childhood development on the radar of the national body last year. That's when it adopted the Burnaby group's resolution asking Ottawa to fund and assist the development of an early childhood development program.

The business angle is that Canada's productivity can be increased by investing in a better educated and more highly-skilled workforce.

Canada is one of the few developed nations without such a program, Gering said. By spending more on the development of children in the early years, they're more prepared for school and less likely to be part of the country's social ills, such as homelessness.

Early childhood development also includes the provision of adequate child care….

From a human resources perspective, that can play a significant role in attracting and retaining employees and in turn, reducing recruitment costs, Pospiech said. Any increase in the availability of child care can also free up parents to return to the workforce.

"We look at the potential for labour shortages over the next three, five, 10 years," he noted. While the local economy is not currently suffering from a labour shortage, a couple years ago the company had a significant number of positions open that couldn't be filled, despite even looking overseas for workers.

Advocating for child care and helping immigrants integrate both serve to increase the local workforce….

"It's just good for business because it demonstrates your commitment to the community in a real substantive way."…