New chamber CEO aims to revitalize downtown, strengthen business community

There’s a new head of the local business community in the Queen City.

Mike Tate officially stepped into his new role as CEO of the Regina and District Chamber of Commerce on January 2. He said he plans to work to revitalize the city’s downtown core while also addressing the key priorities to help the city’s businesses grow and thrive.

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During an appearance on 980 CJME’s Greg Morgan Morning Show, Tate promised to bring a lot of passion and energy to the role.

Listen to Greg Morgan’s interview with Mike Tate:

“We’re going to be a public-facing organization,” he said. “We’ll be loud and proud in terms of telling our members’ stories.”

Tate said his priorities will centre around taxation, the workforce, and community safety, which are all based on previous feedback from what chamber members said they value most.

“Taxation has to be practical and manageable. On the workforce side, we still require – and are going to require – a lot of skilled labor going forward,” he explained.

“Then, community safety. You have no business retention or investment attraction without that safety.”

When it comes to making the downtown core more vibrant, Tate said it starts with everyone getting aligned on a plan.

“Every key stakeholder has to be at the table in order to align on a plan and get this thing done,” he said.

“Certainly I’m going to try to spearhead that, and I like our chances, but there’s a lot of alignment already, and it’s just a matter of bringing everybody together. And what better time with the new mayor and council, for the most part, (to) start that process?”

When it comes to drawing attention and investment to downtown Regina over the long term, Tate said safety has to be addressed in order to make the downtown core a safe, welcoming and vibrant environment.

“When I experience downtown, I look around and say, ‘Would I be fully comfortable with this?’ I’m not sure. It depends on who you ask,” he added.

“If there is an environment set up, and there’s the infrastructure in place, and the key anchors in place – such as the new Globe Theater that just opened – and those anchors are in place to bring people down, and then when they get down there’s a safe environment, a welcoming environment, there’s no reason why downtown cannot be vibrant,” the chamber CEO explained.

Tate said the organization can learn from the examples of other cities when it comes to attracting investment and making the downtown core safer for everyone.