The South Okanagan Chamber of Commerce held its monthly Business Networking event Wednesday evening.

The host for the October event was South Okanagan Immigrant and Communty Services (SOICS), located on Main Street in downtown Oliver.

An enthusiastic group of more than 30 turned out to enjoy great food, the chance to network with other businesses, and to hear from a few business leaders, such as Joey O’Brien from Baldy Mountain Resort, who is excited about the fact there is indeed snow on Baldy.

President Corrie Adolph acknowledged the fact it’s Small Business Month, and the importance of getting involved in Chamber activities.

Tahira Saeed, Program Manager at SOICS, provided some inspiring details on how the SOICS team can help people.

“In the last year, we served more than 1,500 clients, from over 60 countries, and we provide a variety of services. Our services are free for all immigrants and refugees, and that includes temporary foreign workers. We have language classes. We provide paperwork for their immigration-related processes. We also have one-on-one tutoring. We have child-minding. We have workshops. We are a staff of 19 people. We speak 12 languages, and we have two offices – in Oliver and in Penticton. And we do remote services in Osoyoos.”

You can find out more information at:  www.soics.ca.

-Dale Cory