New supergroup aims to give South Shore businesses stronger voice

Rae Bonneville is the chairwoman of the newly formed Lunenburg Queens Business Collective. (Rae Bonneville)

Business groups on the South Shore have teamed up to form one large umbrella organization, potentially representing hundreds of businesses.

The Lunenburg Queens Business Collective includes the chambers of commerce and boards of trade from Liverpool, Lunenburg, Mahone Bay, Bridgewater and Riverport. It also includes the South Shore Tourism Co-operative. 

Rae Bonneville is the new group’s chairwoman. She says the group won’t replace the business groups in each community. It will enhance what they’re already doing and give them more voice and visibility.

“It’s just so much more of a pool that everyone can access,” she said in an interview. “If you’re a member of the Lunenburg Board of Trade, for instance, you’re also a member of the collective. And your connections are really extended. … The connections for business are much higher. And also it gives us a much stronger voice for going to council and representing the businesses with a much stronger voice. It’s not just Liverpool on their own, dealing with a challenge. It’s all of us supporting that group. … It just gives us a lot more strength.”

Bonneville, who is also the president of the Bridgewater Chamber of Commerce, said the idea was first hatched by the Bridgewater chamber about two years ago. 

“It seemed like a great idea to unite and form a united voice and have a stronger presence and support each other in the whole region.”

She said that although the group is brand new, it already has its sights set on some big issues. 

“One of the biggest things we’re trying to tap into is a really good transit system between all of these towns to help with students and seniors and all kinds of shift workers and that sort of thing.”

And it has taken over responsibility for the Lunenburg Queens Business Awards, which are planned for November at the Best Western in Bridgewater.

Bonneville said they hope to hold region-wide job fairs and to create an activity calendar, so that an event in one community doesn’t compete with an event in another.

“It’s pretty exciting, we’re getting a lot of really positive feedback. I think this is going to have a lot of legs as we go along.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com