The executive ranks at the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce got a bit of a shakeup this week due to a director resignation.
Vivian Whitecalf has resigned from the board and, by extension, from her role as second vice-chair on the executive.
The reason is due to her retirement from Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs. Alexis Christensen, representing BATC, is being appointed to take her place on the board. As for the 2nd Vice-Chair role, that is currently vacant and it would be up to the board to select a replacement; that discussion will happen at their next meeting on Sept. 15.
In all, it was a routine directors meeting for the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. It was again held on the Zoom platform and was their last board meeting before the summer break, though there are plans for the executive to meet during the summer.
The chamber is continuing to deal with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. At the meeting, Chief Operating Officer Linda Machniak reported some challenges businesses have been facing during the re-opening. Machniak noted some of the personal services businesses were reporting that customers weren’t necessarily coming back now that they were open. As well, there were reports of employees who did not necessarily want to return to work because they were on the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. These were common themes across the province, she said.
Later in the meeting she pointed to another issue they were hearing about: that businesses in some locations were finding difficulties getting quotes for insurance. Members were urged to make the chamber aware of any business-related COVID-19 issues or concerns they were facing so that the chamber could advocate on their behalf.
From an events standpoint, the situation remains the same as last month. All Battlefords Chamber of Commerce events for the rest of the summer are cancelled or postponed due to public health restrictions, and the chamber is now focusing on potential fall events.
At this point, plans are still on for the Battlefords Business Excellence Awards, but the event is being pushed back from its usual date in early October. The chamber is now looking at holding that event on Nov. 10, but a venue was not yet determined.
