Thirty-five-year-old Nick Stewart is a young leader in Timmins who has made a big difference for Northern Ontario.
Stewart, a proud Northern Ontarian, currently works as the Timmins Chamber of Commerce's manager of policy, research and communications.
He grew up mostly in the Sudbury area and spent a few years in North Bay before moving back to Sudbury for high school and post-secondary at both Laurentian University and Cambrian College.
Stewart moved from Sudbury to Timmins in February 2011, specifically for his job at the chamber.
“My job is multi-faceted and covers a
lot of different bases. I help manage the chamber's communications
strategy, ranging from the press releases to newsletters to media
relations,” Stewart said. “The other major component of my
position involves working with our business members to identify any
issues that are preventing them from potentially succeeding in
business.”
Since taking this position with the chamber, Stewart has been busy as an active advocate for the Ring of Fire mining project in the James Bay lowlands.
“I hesitate strongly to even suggest that I have a role — I am just one voice of many in the business community and the Ontario chamber network that has been pushing loud and hard for many years for all levels of government to take this project seriously and to dedicate to it the attention it requires,” Stewart said. “I was proud to assist the Ontario chamber with its 2014 Beneath the Surface: Uncovering the Economic Potential of Ontario's Ring of Fire report, which helped to build the case for the provincial and federal governments to invest.”
Stewart said as part of that project, he was on the Ontario Chamber of Commerce’s (OCC) Ring of Fire Task Force, which helped to gather input from businesses and stakeholders in our region, and whose feedback was crucial for the report.
In 2014, Stewart worked with the Thunder Bay chamber and the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce to ensure that the northeastern chambers would have a voice at the question panel for the Northern Leaders Debate; worked with Timmins chamber members to develop many policy resolutions; worked with the Timmins chamber membership to develop a report on the city's municipal procurement process; served as the director of advocacy for the inaugural board of the Young Professionals Network of Ontario (YPNO); and represented Timmins interests on several important committees for the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.
All of Stewart’s hard work didn’t go unnoticed as he was chosen as the 2014 Canadian Chamber of Commerce Staff Person of the Year.
“It was an unbelievable, once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Stewart said. “The chamber network is full of incredibly talented, dedicated, inventive people. It was equally gratifying in the days that followed, with countless people from all over the country wanting to come up and discuss the policy work being done in Timmins. Very humbling.”
The Timmins chamber’s CAO, Keitha Robson, said Stewart brings a high level of intellect and knowledge of issues to his position, is thorough, and believes in engaging stakeholders on issues.
“He’s great to work with, believes in the team and encourages others,” Robson said. “His unique personality makes coming to work with him fun.”
Robson said Stewart has taken his role to a new level by being active with the Ontario chamber.
“He guides all of our policy work and the committees of volunteers that contribute to the policy work of the chamber,” Robson said. “If it is written, it was Nick.”
Prior to coming to work in Timmins, Stewart worked as a reporter and web editor at Northern Ontario Business (NOB). He also served as project manager for a wordsmithing business that catered specifically to digital entertainment firms.
“Since I set foot into NOB, my career has largely been focused around working with others to help shine a light on the great things that businesses in the North do, and to encourage governments to remove barriers to business success,” Stewart said. “Journalism accomplishes that in some pretty specific, extremely important ways, and I truly feel like few publications really do that quite like NOB.”
Stewart is proud to be able to spend every day working with some of the most amazing business and policy minds from throughout Ontario and the country, all with the goal of making the North a better place to do business.
“Being able to help make a difference in your community, your province, and your country is a privilege and an honour,” Stewart said.
