Winnipeg chamber chair seeks to get creative

Could Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre tickets be the next company-wide perk?

It’s a question Bob Somers is posing. He’s slated to take the reins as Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce board chair on Oct. 1.

“There’s just such a barrier to engagement with the creative sector,” said Somers, a principal landscape architect at Scatliff + Miller + Murray.

He’s attended chamber events over the past 20 years. Many videos shown at luncheons come without local music or a credit to the filmmaker, Somers said.

He’s paying attention: he spent the late 1990s and early 2000s touring with rock bands as a bass player.

Somers is looking to boost wages in Winnipeg’s creative sector. His goal, he said, is also to connect local businesses with the arts industry.

“I anticipate it’s not going to be a one-year thing,” said Somers, whose term lasts one year. “It is, ‘How do we make it easier for the business community to … engage in the creative sector?’”

Promoting theatre tickets like season sports passes is one avenue. Recognizing artists as businesses and pulling them into the 2,000-member chamber could be another, Somers said. “Maybe this is the bassist in me — I want to just bring more instrumentation.”

Somers is also prioritizing “high-quality public space” downtown and throughout the city, in his day job and for upcoming Winnipeg chamber meetings.

Businesses named downtown and community safety as their top concern in the most recent chamber survey, said the organization’s president, Loren Remillard.

He called Somers “the perfect person in the perfect role at the perfect time.”

Somers has worked on some of Winnipeg’s most prominent landscapes, including Waterfront Drive in the Exchange District and Plaza at The Forks.

Bylaws and policies must be considered during projects, Somers said.

He got his first lesson in the back of a police car — caught skateboarding, illegally, on a St. Vital street as a youth. He’s since helped create dozens of skate parks, not all in Winnipeg.

“Skate parks are an evolution of the fact that we have a municipal bylaw that says you can’t do it anywhere else,” Somers said. “Where can public investment and public bylaws and policy shape what we want?”

There’s an “infrastructure deficit” downtown, or a lack of parks and open space, Somers added. He emphasized the importance of downtown schools.

“Bob’s practice is in creating space for people, for connection that’s inviting,” Remillard said. “That’s what we need for Winnipeg overall, but in particular, downtown.”

Somers has been president of the Manitoba Association of Landscape Architects and a director of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects. He founded the Skateboard Coalition of Manitoba.

He’s wound down other board commitments to make way for his role as the Winnipeg chamber’s 133rd chair, he said.

Somers replaces Amanda Buhse, founder of candle company Coal and Canary. Buhse called her term “one of the greatest honours of my professional career.”

During her tenure, she paused her company’s candle sales to the United States. The southern country removed the de minimis exemption in July 2025, which had allowed items under US$800 to cross the border without duties.

U.S. shipments had accounted for roughly one-fifth of Coal & Canary sales, Buhse said. She’s since doubled down on the Canadian market.

Her experience helped direct the chamber’s advocacy, Remillard said. “I believe (it) shaped it to the success and benefit of the Winnipeg business community.”

Somers said he’s viewing his time as chair in the current trade landscape “nervously.”

“We’re all trying to figure out what’s happening at any one time,” Somers, 52, said. “I feel like I have a very good voice to be used … but I feel like my target might be a little bit more local.”

It seems the city and province are working together “really well,” he added.

Somers brings an intersection of business, creativity and civic thinking, Buhse said.

Sandy Chahal, chief operating officer of Lawton Partners Wealth Management, is set to become board chair for the 2027-28 term.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com