Warren Williams is juggling a couple of leadership roles at the moment.
Wednesday night at the annual Battlefords Chamber of Commerce President’s Banquet at the Gold Eagle Casino, Williams was sworn in as president of the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce.
But Williams already has some knowledge of what it is like to be president. He is also serving as current president of the Battlefords Rotary Club.
Williams will serve both the Chamber and Rotary roles for the next six months, until June 30. After that, he will concentrate on his Chamber presidency until that term expires a year from now.
You might think this means Williams won’t have much spare time outside of his current job as senior account manager with Bralin Technology Solutions, but Williams emphasized his presidency will be a team effort, and that he will not be shouldering all the responsibilities all by himself.
“I have outstanding boards of directors on the Battlefords Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce,” he said.
It promises to be another year of activity for the Battlefords Chamber, with its most important initiatives on the policy front.
The new president says the Chamber will be working on advocacy, “lobbying for the effective use of City allocation of money, and how it impacts business.” He plans good working relationships with both Mayor Ryan Bater of North Battleford and Mayor Ames Leslie of Battleford.
A key issue the Chamber has been pushing in the past year has been tax assessment changes.
This week it was confirmed a new Assessment and Taxation Review Committee has been struck at City Hall to look into methods of commercial taxation. The committee will include Chamber representation, and Williams is looking forward to seeing further progress on the issue.
“We want to encourage businesses that are here to be productive, useful, employ people, pay them a living wage, and like I mentioned before, this is an outstanding community to raise a family and I’m proud to call the Battlefords home.”
Williams also confirmed plans for the Chamber to continue a number of successful events that had been introduced in 2016.
The Chamber On Tap series at Gold Eagle Casino will be coming back with five more guest speakers talking to business people in a relaxed after-work setting. Last year’s series was sold out and tickets are available for this year’s series, with the first event in February.
Also coming back is the Betcha Didn’t Know Business Tour, and the Chamber will also host its annual golf tournament, this year at North Battleford Golf and Country Club.
Not yet finalized are plans for a Shop the Battlefords campaign in 2017.
That campaign was well received last year, said Williams, who said the Chamber plans to evaluate it and consider it again for this year.
