SUNDRE – The Sundre & District Chamber of Commerce has over the past year seen its membership grow to more than double its number at the beginning of 2024 when the organization’s current president stepped into the position.
Sarah Kennedy, who on Nov. 12 during a regular meeting presented to council a report about the chamber of commerce, said it has been “an incredibly significant year for us.”
The organization has grown and sought to evolve as it embarks on an endeavour to rebuild a fresh foundation for the future, Kennedy said.
“One of our major successes this year was welcoming over 50 new members to the chamber,” she said, adding some that had previously stepped away were even re-engaged.
Of course there remain others who have not yet joined, but Kennedy expressed confidence that impending improvements planned in 2025 will incentivize further membership growth.
“And we will be working alongside our membership to address the challenges, especially as we approach road construction season and its impact on our tourism in 2025,” she said.
Speaking to the value of the members’ contributions, she said the result is the ability to deliver a number of community events such as the Sundre High School job fair, Winterfest, as well as SPOG Neighbours’ Day, which all play a role in fostering a sense of community pride, she said.
“We’re looking forward to wrapping up this year with Sundown in Sundre,” she said about the annual holiday shop local event that aims to showcase local retailers through promotions including an interactive treasure hunt.
Also new this year was the launch of the Discover Sundre app, which she said was funded by the chamber’s membership and went onto describe as, “a tool that connects residents, visitors and local businesses and attractions.”
Additionally, she said members receive the benefit of having enhanced listings on the app, which also enables links to features such as booking systems and menus.
“We’ve got additional features planned for 2025 along with new advertising options for tiered sponsorship,” she said, adding the app has been downloaded more than 750 times and received 30,000-plus view since launching in late June.
There were also improvements made at the Visitor Information Centre including the delivery of free internet access in partnership with RMS Plus, as well as updated public amenities, she said, adding the number of visitors recorded from May to September was more than 2,500.
Following her presentation, Coun. Chris Vardas asked when the chamber’s annual general meeting is coming up and whether Kennedy intended to seek another term.
“Are you planning on running again? Because you’ve been a good asset to that organization, and it’s kind of nice to be able to have a connection between the chamber and the town,” said Vardas.
The chamber AGM will be coming up at the end of January, said Kennedy.
“I certainly plan to run again; whether I’m going to get in or not, we’ll see,” she added.
Seeking clarity, Coun. Jaime Marr said the chamber operates on behalf of its business members but that the organization also runs the information centre.
“What’s the difference between the chamber and the Visitor Information Centre, and how does the chamber’s role work?” asked Marr.
Kennedy candidly replied that she too had once “wondered how the two actually fitted together.
“The Visitor Information Centre is a legacy that we inherited rather than actually wanted and it was partly because of location,” she said. “The building is currently set on lands that don’t belong to us (and) we have a disposition agreement with the town to be where we are.”
And according to background information outlined in council’s agenda, the chamber has a recurring funding agreement with the municipality and a corresponding requirement to annually attend a regular council meeting to report on VIC activities as well as statistics on the number of tourists and their destinations.
Mayor Richard Warnock sought context regarding the chamber membership’s growth.
“When I started at the end of January of this year, we had less than 40 businesses as members,” said Kennedy, adding that base is currently approximately 90.
Warnock also inquired if there might be available a breakdown of how many members are storefront businesses compared with home-based enterprises.
While Kennedy did not immediately have such specific numbers, she hazarded a guess of roughly 80 per cent of the membership being comprised of industry and retail businesses with the remaining 20 per cent or so being home-based.
With no further questions, council proceeded to carry motion approving the presentation as information.
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