The Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce hosted its Presidents’ reception last night in order to recognize our members and those who have been involved in our Chamber over the years. As we look at the amazing contributions of both members and directors over the years, we recognize that we have inherited a rich legacy that has made a mark on our community since 1900.
This annual event provided us the opportunity to celebrate this legacy, while also highlighting our accomplishments over the past year and our focus for the upcoming year.
During our annual general meeting, we highlighted the many challenges and obstacles that businesses have faced and our efforts to have a unified voice in order to be heard and influence the outcome. Our 2017-18 year demonstrated various challenges that we addressed on behalf of our members, including:
– Corporate income tax
– Minimum wage increases and employment and labour standard changes
– Residential to non-residential tax gap
– Property assessments
– Off-site levies
– Land development
– Development fees and charges
– Municipal finances and the financially fit framework
– City purchasing
– Business licensing and e-permitting
– Cannabis regulations
– Municipal planning
– Municipal engagement
– Regulatory burdens of business
– Port of Wild Horse improvements
– Twinning of Highway 3
– Municipal air services
In order to tackle the number of issues we deal with each year, we consult regularly with all levels of government on policy priorities, while utilizing our networks, such as the Alberta Chambers of Commerce and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce on provincial and national priorities. We anticipate that this upcoming year will continue to produce issues that will require our combined input and network of influence, as we continue to deal with current policy priorities and emerging issues.
From an event perspective, our trade shows welcomed 158 exhibitors to our Great West Home & Leisure show in 2017, with 195 exhibitors in our 2018 Sunshine Home & Garden Show. For our Great West Home & Leisure show, we had 302 different exhibitors from 2016-2018 participating in the shows, with 318 different exhibitors for the Sunshine Home & Garden show, showcasing the variety of exhibitors we always have at each of these shows.
Outside of our tradeshows, we hosted a municipal election forum, in addition to 25 other events in 2017-2018 with more than 2,300 registrants. This included events such as our Business After 5, Network Before 9, Mayor’s Breakfast, Presidents’ Reception, State of the City, Employment Standards sessions, Office Professionals’ luncheon, social media conference, spring open house and our Ad-Advocacy seminar, amongst others. We also hosted regular urban development industry and business advocacy meetings throughout the year.
We welcomed 113 new members during the past year, while also promoting 114 local discount offers and 39 corporate offers that we utilize to support our members by leveraging our network to provide discounts to products and services.
We continue to communicate our activities to our more than 3,300 subscribers, in addition to our regular website and blog updates, and our social media posts (Facebook and Twitter).
In 2018-19, we are rolling out a new membership model to streamline investment decisions for business when they are looking to engage in the work of the Chamber. We are also restructuring elements of our governance model through a change in our bylaws, transitions of our committees into more strategic platforms including our leadership development committee, our policy council and our community connections.
In addition to our policy and advocacy work, we will be focusing on our Chamber election campaigns, in addition to our election forums, for both the provincial and federal elections in 2019. In partnership with the Alberta Chambers of Commerce, we launched a Chamber branded “Vote Prosperity” campaign and we will also be rolling a 10 Ways to Build a Canada that Wins campaign in 2019 in partnership with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. This will provide an opportunity for chambers to educate the public on issues of importance to our economy and to influence decision makers and those seeking office.
We want to leave our mark by ensuring we have a prominent and recognizable voice, that it is representative of our members concerns and is heard at all levels of government. We are here to be the most unified, valued and influential business network in our region and to stimulate a strengthened and vibrant economy through our connections, support and influence.
Visit our website at medicinehatchamber.com to find out more about our initiatives, to read our annual reports and to stay up to date with all of our news and events.
Lisa Kowalchuk is the executive director of the Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce. For more information on this column or the Chamber, contact 403-527-5214.
