Business chamber AGM offers many highlights after successful year
A busy year with more members and a sound financial position were some of the highlights reported during the Swift Current & District Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting in the Innovation Centre community room, March 22.
The 2023 board chair Mark Clements said during the presentation of his report that he was honoured to be in that position during the past year.
“We have a tremendous group of individuals that have a ton of varied skill sets and experiences on our board,” he mentioned. “We strategically look at our board composition and we try to attract people to our board that represent a number of key sectors in the southwest. What we feel this does is create a group that looks to drive growth in our community through collaboration that comes from different perspectives in different sectors.”
The Chamber identified four priorities areas in the 2022 strategic plan and those were achieved during 2023.
The organization successfully focused on membership value, communications, networking/connections and advocacy.
“The Chamber added 35 brand new members to our membership, bringing our total membership to 403 businesses, which I think is a good demonstration of the growing business community as well as existing businesses recognizing the value of chamber membership,” he said.
He added that the Chamber continues to be a strong financial entity. It was therefore possible to host a lot of successful events during the year that provided a good return value on membership dollars.
“In 2023 the Chamber spent just under $95,000 on events targeted at either
bringing businesses together to connect or sharing knowledge,” he noted. “That’s 76 per cent of our membership dues spent in that area. I think that’s a good representation of us efficiently using the membership dues to return it back to our membership.”
Financial statements and the auditor’s report were presented during the meeting. Cash at the end of the year was $14,216 lower due to capital purchases and repayment of the Canada Emergency Business Account loan, but accounts receivable and deferred revenue were higher due to an increase in Chamber membership.
Overall revenue in 2023 was $15,672 higher due to more income from membership fees and from carrying out more events and projects, but grant revenue was lower.
Overall expenditure was slightly lower than the year before and the Chamber therefore had a profit of $9,365.
Chamber CEO Karla Wiens gave an overview of the past year during the presentation of her report. She said 2023 and the early part of 2024 were very productive and exciting.
“As always, our number one priority is providing value to our membership,” she noted. We are constantly striving to create new and innovative ways of doing so.”
She spoke about various events held during the past year and referred to the relocation of the Chamber offices in early January to the Innovation Centre in downtown Swift Current.
This move was part of a new initiative to create the Chamber Hub. It offers a coworking space with three partitioned desks and one private office space that are available for rent.
“It is potentially a new way for many people to work,” she said.
“We’ve heard from people in rural Saskatchewan who may not have the means to lease a long-term space or they may not need office space dedicated all the time. This is a way of bridging that gap to facilitate entrepreneurship and commerce
for our entire region.”
The meeting concluded with the nomination of the 2024 board of directors.
The Chamber board executive members are Warren Hope (board chair, Value Partners Investment Counsel), Mark Clements (past chair, Innovation Federal Credit Union), Alicia Laird (1st vice chair, MNP), Ashley Peterson (2nd vice chair, Living Sky Casino) and Chelsey Stock (treasurer, Stark & Marsh).
The board directors for the 2024 terms are: Doug Evjen (Sasktel), Lindsay Gerbrandt (The Pinery Tree Farm), Garry Koebel (The Sputtergotch Toy Co.), Bryce Martin (Great Plains College), Monty Reich (Southwest Terminal), Patrick Shields (Footworks Advanced Foot Care) and Logan Spearing (Kanuka Thuringer). The appointed board representatives are Pat Friesen (City of Swift Current) and Mike Gering (R.M. of Swift Current No. 137).
Warren Hope said after the meeting it is an honour to serve as board chair during the 2024 term.
“It’s such a well-run organization and such a high-quality group of people,” he mentioned.
“The fact that they have some confidence that I may be able to contribute in some way is pretty humbling.”
He has been a Chamber member for about 25 years and on the board for around five years. He believes it is important to help to make the community a better place.
“If we can nudge it along at all, that’s a positive,” he said.
“So I’m happy to try and contribute anything I can to make sure that our community is stronger as it moves forward.”
He felt it will be important during 2024 to make sure that new Chamber initiatives such as the Chamber Hub and the new Chamber Perks mobile app are successful.
He felt generally upbeat about the outlook for the business community, even though there are some concerns. The agriculture and oil and gas industries along with the general business community provide a sense of stability for the region.
“Our oil and gas industry is under a little bit of pressure and with the drought that we’ve been having, obviously the farm community is going to be under pressure,” he said “So there is definitely concerns, but I think that the people in the community are very resilient. We’ve been through a lot before.”
Wiens said after the annual general meeting during a media interview that the creation of the Chamber Hub was certainly a big highlight and it has been very well received.
“The number of faces that we see now on a day-to-day basis is astounding,” she noted. “So it’s helping us connect with our members, but it’s also helping our members connect with other people as well, which is what the Chamber is all about.”
Other highlights during the past year were the 25th anniversary of the Swift Current Business Excellence (SCBEX) Spirit of Swift Current awards night last fall and the creation of a new event, the OMG Funspiel in January 2024. The Chamber already hosts an annual Agriculture Appreciation Night and this curling event was created to give recognition to the oil, gas and manufacturing industries.
“It was designed for people to have fun and get out to meet some new and existing people from their industries that they might not have seen for a while,” she said. “They were thrilled with it. So overwhelming feedback from all the participants was they’ll be back next year.”
Wiens is excited about the recent launch of the Chamber Perks mobile app. It can be downloaded by anyone and they can redeem perks offered by Chamber businesses locally and across Canada. She felt this app can help to increase sales for Chamber members.
It is part of the ongoing efforts by the Chamber to look at ways to provide benefits to member businesses, regardless of what challenges are ahead.
“Our role will be to listen to our business community,” she said. “What do they need and where can we help. So challenges are challenges and some are tougher than others, but I look at a challenge as an opportunity to find a solution. I know the Chamber is part of that solution.”