After recently completing a financial review, the Sundre and District Chamber of Commerce’s budget yielded a modest surplus.
“We’re still in the black, but not by much,” said president Connie Anderson.
Revenues from Jan. 1 to Oct. 17, 2018 were about $55,000, while expenses for the same period of time amounted to a little more than $47,000. There were also still some funds carried over from 2017, he said.
The chamber’s funding largely comes in the form of grants from the Town of Sundre, Mountain View County as well as the provincial government. Additionally, membership dues account for one quarter of the society’s income. The organization’s membership remains fairly stable with 97 members, he said.
The chamber's expenses range from running the Visitor Information Centre, including wages, to organizing events such as the Explore Sundre Adventure and Home Expo. The chamber also pays a fee to the provincial chambers group and the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, which in turn includes Sundre in promotional marketing material, he said.
This year included the additional cost of covering fees to straighten out the society’s books with financial figures all brought up to speed in accounting software called QuickBooks, he said, adding the chamber now has a professional bookkeeper.
“We didn’t have an official accountant before.”
Overall, the chamber is “sitting OK” with a little more than $7,000 in the bank, he said.
Looking ahead, he said the chamber has its sights set on preparing plans for the upcoming annual Sundown in Sundre on Nov. 30. The seasonal community shop local event seeks to entice residents to keep holiday spending in town as much as possible by working with businesses to offer incentives. Meanwhile, the annual Sundre Business Awards were held on Friday, Oct. 26 at the Sundre Community Centre.
Furthermore, the board has been “mulling over” the chamber's bylaws, a review that remains ongoing. But the updated document, which includes minor term limit revisions and is being built using other chamber organizations’ bylaws as a blueprint, could be approved during the general meeting in January, he said.
The board is also hoping in the new year to schedule a workshop with representatives from the Alberta Chambers of Commerce to potentially gain some ideas and insight, he said.
Visit www.sundrechamber.ca for more information.
