Stratford and District Chamber of Commerce general manager Eddie Matthews to retire in June

02 May Stratford and District Chamber of Commerce general manager Eddie Matthews to retire in June

By Galen Simmons

It’s safe to say Eddie Matthews didn’t fully understand what he was getting into when he decided to leave a 40-year-career in radio – 20 years of which he spent as the iconic voice of CJCS and Juice FM in Stratford – to take on the role of general manager of the Stratford and District Chamber of Commerce in 2019.

Having just announced he will be retiring from his position as general manager at some point likely in June to give himself more freedom to travel with his wife and find new ways to give back to the community, Matthews told the Stratford Times that leading the chamber as the world plunged into the COVID-19 pandemic completely rewrote any expectations he had going into the job.

“I’m not patting myself on the back because our staff here is so good, but we’re in a good spot right now (at the chamber),” Matthews said. “We’re through COVID, but there’s still businesses that are really suffering. We figured it’s going to be a few years after COVID where they’re still going to be feeling the effects of it, and many businesses are, so I’m hoping the next person that comes in (as general manager) will remain vigilant on promoting and supporting local businesses.”

Though he knew going into the position that supporting and promoting local businesses was the name of the game – something he had a leg up on thanks to the relationships and trust he built through his previous career – no one could have predicted exactly how he and the chamber would support and promote local businesses that were, all of a sudden, simultaneously struggling to make ends meet as they navigated shifting public-health restrictions.

“We were all never on one ship. Some were on a big ship, some were on a small boat, and we all had a different way of navigating the waters of COVID,” Matthews said. “It was a good learning curve. I had been on the job for one year when COVID kicked in and I was still coming into work every day. I was the only one in the building. I felt like the Maytag repairman. It was a good opportunity to get one-on-one with a lot of businesses that were, like everybody, just sitting on the sidelines and finding out, ‘What do you need? What can we do? And who can we point you to that could be an asset or help?’ 

“The one word I’d heard about but never really gave it too much of a thought until COVID was advocacy and dealing with all levels of government, which I loved. It was so interesting and it also showed you how much red tape there was in many cases.”

While Matthews and his staff worked hard to continue promoting local businesses through initiatives like the chamber’s Shop Local campaign – something Matthews credits chamber office manager Shannon Stewart for – and they continued providing and connecting businesses with the resources they needed to navigate rough seas, Matthews himself met with politicians from all levels of government to push for the financial support they so desperately needed and then worked to help businesses apply for funding whenever it became available.

Matthews was also instrumental in making sure the chamber’s annual Business Excellence Awards (BEA) Gala could continue. While the chamber couldn’t host the awards ceremony in May 2020, it wasn’t long before Matthews and his team came up with a plan to host the gala at the Movies Under the Stars drive-in theatre that October, an event that saw everyone but hosts Jodi Gerber and Courtney Teahen, as well as business leader of the year Franklin Famme, confined to their vehicles for the duration. Yet those business owners who won awards were still able to deliver their acceptance speeches through radio-style interviews with Matthews thanks to an FM broadcast transmitter.

“It went off so well,” Matthews said. “Shelley Windsor, who owns Mercer Hall, won two awards that night and was to the point of tears giving her acceptance speech because of everything that the restaurant industry had gone through. I still remember that acceptance speech. You know, that was right from the heart.” 

The following year, the BEAs were back at the Arden Park Hotel, but the event was restricted to half capacity, another challenge Matthews and his team were happy to navigate to give businesses a reason to celebrate at a time when celebrations were much fewer and further between.

“To keep it lighthearted, I had the yellow, plastic gloves and I would go up and disinfect the microphone and podium after each speaker,” Matthews laughed. “After that, we were putting the future BEA galas together and people said, ‘Well, how did you do it before?’ I didn’t really know because I’d only done it that way for one year. But Shannon Stewart took control of that and we recreated it – kept a lot of the format the same.”

Looking back over the past five years, Matthews is proud of how the chamber has expanded its ability to assist businesses outside of Stratford’s borders in places like St. Marys, Mitchell and even as far as the Region of Waterloo.

“It’s not just the Stratford chamber of commerce, it’s the Stratford and District Chamber of Commerce,” Matthews said. “The work we do in our district is just as important.”

While Matthews will stay on board as general manager until June, he will likely remain active with the chamber, helping whoever the new general manager will be hit the ground running and assisting in whatever other capacity he can.

“Eddie’s been an integral part of the chamber’s success since I’ve been on the board,” said chamber board chair Dana Walton in a press release. “Our growth and innovation throughout the pandemic is a testament to his leadership. He’s not only an advocate for the business community, but he’s also become the voice – always aware of what’s happening and when, and making key introductions to support our community’s growth. 

“On behalf of our entire board and membership, we appreciate all he’s done for our business community and we wish him all the best.”