SUNDRE — The Sundre & District Chamber of Commerce recently elected a new president following its annual general meeting.
Lois Warnock will be stepping into the role held previously by Monica St. Dennis, who remains a director. Several years ago, Warnock had served a term on the board as secretary-treasurer prior to taking a break before returning last year, .
More than a dozen people joined the annual general meeting on Jan. 13 conducted by videoconference due to public health restrictions, she said.
“It was fairly short and sweet in terms of going through the business,” she told the Albertan on Jan. 19.
Warnock is joined by Shelbi Duncan, vice-president; Tierra Peterson, secretary; Megan Brett, treasurer; as well as directors St. Dennis, Mark Crouch, Chris Newton, Nicci Doyle, Tom King, Andrea Grassl, and Breanna Bolton.
Without any vacant positions needing to be filled, she said the board is where it wants to be.
“So, I’m really excited. We have some new people on the board, which is great — (it’s) always good to have some new perspectives and new experience,” she said, adding the board will also benefit from the experience of some past members who committed to staying involved.
“We have a great board, and I’m looking forward to participating again in a more active role,” she said, adding she had spent the past year as a director in more of an observational capacity.
A brief meeting followed the AGM largely as an opportunity for the board’s members to introduce themselves and get to know each other a bit better, she said.
“We’ve scheduled the next meeting at which time we will have a more in-depth discussion,” she said in response to being asked if any preliminary ideas for potential plans or projects had come up.
Among her goals moving ahead are to carry out a review of the past year and assess how the chamber can best help businesses continue to survive given the current conditions, find ways to foster membership growth, opportunities for board development, as well as setting some future priorities.
“I am a little bit of a process-oriented individual,” said Warnock, who brings with her past experience in higher level management of government and not-for-profit boards in B.C. “I’m also an advocate of strategic planning as a group. Sometimes, that just never happens in organizations.”
While that might not all happen immediately as a result of circumstances, the objective is to at least get the ball rolling, she said.
“This whole pandemic has really created some challenges,” she said, referring to getting organized and collaborating to create a cohesive group.
“We know we do that in person way better than we do on Zoom,” she said.
Of course being able to lean on videoconferencing technology has in the meantime been what she called a blessing, as for example telephone conferences would have been even more cumbersome. Still, video meetings are no replacement for gathering in-person — especially in an area where some people face technological hurdles such as lacking access to adequate bandwidth and high speed internet.
“You’re kind of hooped if you’ve got bad Wi-Fi,” she said. “A lot of times, you can’t see people because they got to turn their cameras off. So, you don’t even have that interaction.”
And having spent much of the pandemic working from her home, Warnock said she felt a bit trapped in a “bubble for the last couple of years. Definitely didn’t get out to meet people in the same fashion that you used to be able to.”
Despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic’s ripple effects, the chamber has striven to remain active, she said, citing examples such as Sundown in Sundre, an Alberta Culture Days event at the Sundre Skatepark that featured a photographer, as well as a local coupon book and the virtual businesses awards to help promote and support businesses.
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“Given the conditions that we’ve all experienced the last couple of years, I really give kudos to the businesses and the chamber — but particularly the businesses that are really hanging in there. Because we know it hasn’t been fun,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to seeing more growth and more freedom when we hopefully get clear of this pandemic,” she said. “We know it’s not going to go away totally. But it will change, and we can do what we can to change with it.”
As a matter of administrative housekeeping duties, she said the board also finished its bylaw review.
“Which is kind of huge because those old bylaws were 50-plus years old. So, it’s been a long time coming,” she said, adding they dated back to 1968.
“Suffice it to say, a lot of it was kind of more administrative stuff and reflected old business practices,” she said. “They had to be completely re-written. So, it’s good to see that those are completed and registered through Corporations Canada.”
In sharing parting thoughts, Warnock expressed high praise for business owners who have endured these challenges times and encouraged them to actively participate with the chamber and not to hesitate to ask questions.
“As we grow the chamber, so do we grow their businesses. And as they grow their businesses, they can become way more successful,” she said. “Because as businesses grow, then so does the town and the area.”
