Here is a rundown of items that came up at the May monthly meeting of the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce on May 21:
Representatives from the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce were at the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce AGM in early May and reported back to the Battlefords Chamber board on what took place there.
Battlefords Chamber of Commer Chair Dallan Oberg as well as director Derek Schmidt and Chief Operating Officer Linda Machniak were among those at the meetings. One presentation came from the former mayor of Humboldt who spoke of his relationship between the city and the chamber, on how they had a rocky relationship and came together on a number of points.
Two media speakers, Murray Wood and Murray Mandryk, spoke about the political scene and Oberg found their take on the upcoming federal election notable.
“They were all unsure of what’s going to happen,” said Oberg. “For two political analysts to sit there and say ‘we don’t know what’s going to happen’ was really interesting.”
A representative from the Leader-Post also gave a presentation about how the chamber could better get their message across to the media.
The Battlefords chamber representatives also raised their concerns about the reputational issues the Battlefords faced from negative news stories such as the controversial W5 piece “Crimetown” about North Battleford crime.
A survey was done of those in the room to see how many others had seen it. It turned out the W5 story had less reach than expected. Not a lot of hands went up from the audience at the AGM indicating they had seen it.
“It wasn’t as far spreading as we may have thought. People didn’t get the same reaction we did locally,” Oberg reported.
In other news from the meeting: the chamber is planning to participate in a community gathering June 4 with the Office of the Treaty Commissioner. This will be their fifth working session on reconciliation.
The chamber is still working towards efforts to place a digital advertising sign on their front lawn, with RFPs sent out to sign companies. The chamber has voted to proceed with seeking the necessary approvals from the city and highways for the sign.
The chamber has accepted the resignation of director Ramona Maraj. She has departed for a new job in Saskatoon.
May saw the chamber host its annual Golf Challenge on May 24 at the North Battleford Golf and Country Club. June 6 is the next Business on Tap event and Herb Cox has been lined up as the speaker there.
There are also plans for the chamber to partner with the RCMP on a presentation to local businesses on shoplifting. A date and venue were not yet lined up as of May’s meeting but the thinking was it would likely be held sometime in June.
