Three new members were voted on to the Olds & District Chamber of Commerce board of directors during the chamber's Annual General Meeting (AGM) March 14 at the legion.
"We actually had a vote, which was really encouraging," chamber president Ben Stone said. "So that's pretty exciting. It's nice to have some new faces on the board and some new ideas."
Six people ran for four open positions. The winners were Erin Wallace, John Armstrong, Mark Johnson and Tracy Gardner, who was re-elected.
About 75 people attended the AGM, 42 of whom were eligible voters.
Gardner is business development officer for the Olds Regional Exhibition. Johnson is a business coach and consultant. Armstrong is chief executive officer of Foothills Natural Gas Co-op Ltd. Wallace is general manager of Ramada Olds.
The chamber's 2018 budget was ratified. It projects total revenue of $112,850 and total expenditures at $100,900.
"We're in significantly better shape this year. As far as the financials go, we changed bookkeepers about three or four times over the course of the year, which did make the accounting a little more difficult this year," Stone said.
"But with that being said, we've sorted out our books and we've gotten some consistency as well -- in keeping track of our numbers and our invoicing especially. We're doing a lot better this year. We're in good shape now."
Stone told reporters the biggest change for the chamber over the past year was settling into its location, just west of the post office. He noted that marks the first time this iteration of the chamber -- which has existed for more than 20 years -- has had a storefront location.
"The big one is really the storefront location and having a place that people can drop into and gather good ideas, some help, some suggestions and just some greater visibility in the community," Stone said.
When asked if the chamber has any goals for this year Stone said, "I think the goal is always just to provide more value to our members. We want people to come in to the community and say 'well, we want to be a member of the chamber.'
"I guess more importantly than that, we want to help foster a strong business environment where people from outside of the community look at Olds and say, 'that's the kind of place (where) we want to do business.'"
He said another goal is to increase membership "because the more money that we have, the more able we are to provide services and leverage those dollars."
Stone also wants to see the chamber provide more opportunities for networking among members and to provide more information sessions. For example, it may hold more events like the breakfast offered last month in conjunction with the Uptowne Olds committee.
During that breakfast, Mayor Mike Muzychka and other town officials, along with Sundial Growers president Geoff Thompson, gave an update on how they plan to cope with an anticipated 1,000 new jobs as three marijuana production facilities and other businesses come on stream.
"We're always looking to collaborate with the other organizations within town," Stone said. "Any time we see an opportunity to bring some relevant and important information to the business community we're going to seize that opportunity and make sure that it gets out to our members."
Two chamber board members are retiring this year: Bill Hall and Doug Purcells.
Unfortunately Purcells was unable to attend the AGM and receive his parting gift.
"He was plenty of help this year," Stone told the crowd.
However, Hall was in attendance and received his.
Stone said Hall has been "an extraordinary resource for all of us. I can't imagine doing this last year without him."
Chamber vice-president Vicky Barsey agreed.
"We had a chat during the lunch line and he said that he thought that he would still be able to sit and do some work with us on the board, so we're going to hold your feet to the fire on that comment," she said.
Also during the event, Olds Institute administrative coordinator Patti Simoneau unveiled the chamber's new logo which she had developed.
"(She) just brought me into her office out of nowhere and said, 'I've come up with this template.' We liked the way it looked. We had a quick discussion amongst the board and brought it in," Stone said.
"It's nice to change and modernize it. You know, I think there'll always be a place in our hearts for the old logo, but we do have to stay up to date with things and show that we're a progressive community and we're always looking to be better."
