HUMBOLDT — Malcolm Eaton says a healthy relationship between municipal and business leaders is instrumental in developing a lively, dynamic community.
That was the essence of the former Humboldt mayor's message during his presentation at the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce annual conference in Regina on May 9. During a 45-minute session, Eaton outlined the importance of local government-business relationships in supporting both commercial and public development within a town or city.
"They both have important roles in the community," said Eaton while describing his speech. "The chamber of commerce represents the business community and councils represent the larger interests of the community. The presentation focused on how important that relationship is to growing, marketing and supporting the entire community."
Eaton sat on Humboldt city council for 13 years, 10 as mayor. He stepped away from the position in 2016.
During his time in municipal politics, Saskatchewan was in the midst of a boom. Development in the resource and manufacturing sectors was flaring and more people were moving to all corners of the province. Eaton said he recognized the importance of a synchronicity between the city's business and administrative sectors as he and councillors attempted to manage the growth.
"Humboldt is a significant economic hotspot in the province. We’ve got manufacturing in the area, agriculture and potash mining, so planning for growth is pretty important and we certainly needed the chamber to have a relationship to support that planning,” Eaton said, suggesting that regional economic and infrastructure planning conferences hosted by Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce and the City of Humboldt are examples of this co-operative effort.
“The relationship between council and the chamber or any other organization changes over time with a change in people; for the city in terms of administrative staff and for the chamber in terms of executive,” Eaton said. “Each time these changes occur, you need to sort of rebuild and restructure the relationship.”
Humboldt’s sitting mayor, Rob Muench, agrees with his predecessor’s assessment on the subject.
“A lot of times, the chamber is looked at as sort of an ‘official opposition’ type of thing, but in Humboldt, we’ve always had a good relationship where we’d rather work together rather than in a confrontational manner,” Muench said.
The exchange of information between the two bodies is especially important, he added. This provides the chamber and its members with an open venue to discuss Humboldt’s economic development policy while giving the municipal government insight into what concerns are in the business community.
“In the last number of years as the city has grown, we got information from businesses which has given us a little more transparency in how we are doing things,” Muench said.
Brent Fitzpatrick became executive director of the Humboldt Chamber of Commerce last fall. Since then, he’s experienced a positive and productive rapport with the city.
“When I assumed this role in November, the first person I saw was the city administrator,” Fitzpatrick said. “Having a fluid, honest communication between the city and the chamber is paramount. We’re all trying to build a better area here.”
Business influence in any community is widespread, he continued. Every resident is connected to the local commercial sector in some way.
“Everybody is tied to business, no matter what you do or where you are; whether you’re at home needing to buy groceries or you have to get your car fixed,” said Fitzpatrick. “No matter what the city or chamber does, we’re always remembering and focused on how we make this a better place for those residents. A better way of saying it is it’s about helping people that are here and helping bring more people and business to the community.”
Besides working together on progressive economic policy, the Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce also manages the City of Humboldt’s municipal campground.
