Future looking bright for Chestermere Chamber of Commerce

With a new board in place and work about to start on a strategic plan, the future is looking up for the Chestermere Chamber of Commerce.
“The future of the chamber looks bright,” said Chestermere Chamber of Commerce Vice-President Robin Impey.
The success comes after a few hair-raising days where the chamber was unsure it would be able to continue in 2018 due to a lack of board members.
Fortunately for the chamber, interest picked up and Impey said it looks like they will have the full 10 board positions filled this year.
“A couple days ago we were wondering whether the chamber would still be able to function,’ he said.
After recruiting several people prior to the meeting to ensure they would meet quorum, they also had nominations from the floor for board positions.
“Pretty soon we’ll be having an actual election here,” said Impey of the sudden increase in interest in the chamber.
“It kind of swung from one way to the other in just a matter of a couple of days,” he said.
Despite the drama, Impey said that the Chamber is getting off to a great start to their year.
In addition to local businesses, the AGM also had city councilors and the city’s manager of economic development in attendance.
There was also an address from Deputy Mayor Mel Foat.
With the AGM behind them and the future of the chamber secure with a full board, the focus has turned to the development of their Strategic plan.
“In less than 2 weeks the new board will be meeting with the team that will help build the chamber’s strategic plan, much of which will be based on the findings from the survey,” said Impey.
Much of that work will draw from the results of the business survey the chamber recently completed in partnership with the city.
“The business survey…is providing strong insight into what areas the chamber needs to focus,” said Impey.
The goal is to have the plan completed by the spring.
Whatever initiatives and events the chamber decides to do this year will all revolve around the need to support businesses in Chestermere.
“It all boils down to supporting the business community,” said Impey.
“So whatever the initiatives are, they will be rooted in…how is the very best way we can help businesses be successful in Chestermere,” he said.
While Impey doesn’t know for sure what the new strategic plan will be, he does know that based on the results of the survey some sort of shop local plan will be a major focus of the chamber this year.
“I think everybody including the city recognizes that, that is probably still our number one issue,” he said.
With a population of over 20,000 people there is more than enough population to support business, it’s just a matter of finding a way to get residents to support local.
With people’s busy lives, an most of Chestermere’s residents working in the city, Impey can’t fault people for stopping to shop in Calgary during their commutes to and from work.
“We can’t fault people for doing what’s convenient and saves them time,” he said.
It’s up to the chamber to find ways to encourage people to choose to support local.
“We need to help people make the connection…its costly for our community…if we aren’t able to build a strong, healthy business community,” said Impey.