The Prairie Sky Chamber of Commerce (PSCC) has had a busy year and things aren’t slowing down just yet. On Tuesday, October 1st, the PSCC announced that the six open positions for their Board of Directors have been filled. The positions were for a two-year term and voting took place from September 21-25.
This was the first election that has taken place since the Warman and Martensville Chambers of Commerce amalgamated in 2017. A total of eight nominees came forward, and according to PSCC Executive Director Jaimie Malmgren, it was a very close election. The following people were sworn in during the AGM, which took place Wednesday, October 9th :
• Tamara Bell, Evemore Homes
• Gord Dmytruk, Avatex
• Josh Fedorowich, Studio 2.0 Interior Design, Photography & Construction
• Darla Schwartz, Coldwell Banker Realty
• Jaime Holowaty, The Wireless Age
• Michael Wright, Miller Thomson LLP
The following directors have one (1) year remaining in their term.
• Laura Balyski, Centure 21 Fusion
• Carolyn Chow, SmartHire
• Tracey Fesiuk, Martensville Plumbing & Heating
• Stephen Nicholson, The W Law Group
• Richard Petkau, Kessler Insurance
• Doug Ramage, McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd.
Following the AGM, the PSCC Board of Directors will be busy planning their newest event, the Ignite Excellence Business Summit, which will be taking place on Thursday, November 7th at the Brian King Centre in Warman from 8:30am – 3:30pm. This event is designed to connect business leaders with entrepreneurs while providing them with tools they need to succeed. “This is a brand new event and was something that we decided to do because of the fact that there are so many new and young businesses within our region. As a Chamber, we thought that if we could connect business experts and mentors with the business community, that would help strengthen the overall business climate within our region,” Malmgren explained.
There will be a variety of speakers that will be providing information to those attending, which will begin with Carolyn Chow of SmartHire who will discuss Workplace Culture and how to attract and retain employees. Next will be the keynote speaker Doug Griffiths, author of “13 Ways to Kill Your Community” who will talk about change. “Doug will be talking about as a business and as a community or any organization, the importance of being adaptable to change and willing to change so you can always stay current and relevant,” said Malmgren. Lunch will follow and then there will be an opportunity to learn about “Insights and Lessons Learned from Local Trail Blazers”, where three business owners will talk about their entrepreneurial journey and share some of their experiences. “Following that will be a professional panel that will be all around igniting business growth and as a business, what sort of things you can have in place in order to set that solid foundation,” added Malmgren. The last presentation of the day will be from Travis Low and Ricky Forbes of Blue Moose Media, who will be discussing the “Top 5 Tips for Marketing Your Business on Social Media”.
There is an opportunity for sponsors for the event to have an exhibit booth, so during breaks attendees can stop in and get some expert advice. “These people have a lot of experience, so if you are looking at sustainability, growth, getting advice, anything, it is a great opportunity to come and network and gain some knowledge. We are really excited about this event.”
The PSCC has been seeing a steady growth of new members and continues to gain more and more exposure within the region. “We have had new events taking place and some large events such as WMBEXA that has been gaining in popularity each year. It is really nice to see the membership continue to grow and people seeing the value of belonging to the Chamber and having that network and organization behind you if you have any challenges or anything like that.”
The Chamber hosts regularly scheduled informative breakfasts and luncheons that are open to anyone to attend, as well as numerous events throughout the year such as the Martensville Business Expo, Warman, Martensville & Region Business Excellence Awards Gala (WMBEXA), and more. This past September, they met with local business owners to discuss the results of their ‘Love What’s Local’ survey. The survey was set up as a way to hear back from the residents within the region and find out what they felt businesses could do to encourage more local spending. “We revealed the information that we got back and it was quite eye opening. The business owners that were in attendance and the City representatives that attended were very engaged. We learned more about what we as businesses and as communities and cities can do to keep that daytime population here because if people are here, they are going to spend more locally.”
For more information about the Prairie Sky Chamber of Commerce visit them on Facebook, or at http://www.prairieskychamber.ca/. You can also contact their office at (306) 292-7066.