Chair Kayla Petersen, left, and chief operating officer Linda Machniak, at Tuesday's annual general meeting. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Annual general meeting

Battlefords Chamber of Commerce looks forward to new projects ahead

Feb 7, 2023 | 5:21 PM

The Battlefords Chamber of Commerce gave a positive report to members at Tuesday’s Annual General Meeting.

The organization reviewed the past year and discussed future initiatives during the luncheon gathering.

“It’s been another really busy year for the chamber,” Chief operating officer Linda Machniak said. “There was lots of work getting back to events and in-person activities, and lots of advocacy work happening coming out of COVID.”

Currently, the chamber has about 302 active and courtesy members, close to on par with the prior year’s tally.

On the capital side, the chamber has been busy installing a new lift to improve accessibility at its offices in North Battleford. It also made interior improvements, adding new lighting, carpeting, and painting work.

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“It was a much needed facelift, so it’s been awesome,” Machniak said.

Looking ahead, the chamber will see several new projects underway in 2023.

“We have a new community tourism development coordinator position, a partnership with Destination Battlefords, the City of North Battleford and the chamber to assist them in Destination Battlefords’ work getting back on track,” Machniak said. The project will also involve working with the Battlefords Hotels Association.

The chamber has a co-op student who will help them with this initiative.

The work plan includes developing an online community relocation directory for families moving to the Battlefords.

“We are excited about that, for business people as well, because as they hire people or encourage people to move here, they can get all their information from that one site,” Machniak said.

The chamber will also work to create a larger scale Shop the Battlefords program that will happen into the fall, leading into the holiday season.

“It will include not just retail but all of the member businesses, and businesses in the community who want to give their customers an opportunity to win some money,” she said. “We’ll reveal the details when we have them all nailed down.”

Also at the meeting, Machniak presented the budget for 2023, which was adopted.

On the financial side for the chamber’s 2023 budget on the general operating account, the organization is anticipating revenues of $408,100 for member service delivery; $49,500 for the Battlefords Business Excellence Awards (BBEX), and $17,500 for remaining capital, for a total of $475,100. Expenses for member service delivery are projected at $397,550; BBEX shows expenses of $39,500, along with capital and long-term debt servicing projected at $28,500, for a total of $465,550. The 2023 operating budget reflects a projected surplus of $9,550.

Liam Pollard, of Vantage Chartered Professional Accountants, presented the 2022 financial statements. In a sum up, he said overall the report showed the chamber’s numbers are looking “fairly consistent with previous years.”

“Special events sponsorships and advertising are all up,” he said. “Mostly because you’re back to full operations from the COVID [period].”

In total for the 2022 fiscal year end, the chamber had an operating surplus of $6,980 to what was budgeted.

For 2023, Swanson, Gryba, and Company was appointed as the accounting firm for the chamber, as a separate local firm is selected every three years in rotation.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow