(file photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Battlefords business

Chamber reminds people to shop local over holidays

Dec 20, 2023 | 8:05 AM

With holiday shopping underway just days before Christmas, the Battlefords and District Chamber of Commerce is reminding everyone to put visiting their local businesses on their to-do lists.

Chief operating officer Linda Machniak said the chamber is trying to reach people on the social media to promote local business.

“Because we have not had really cold weather, I would say that’s impacting businesses in the community right now,” she said. “Usually if it’s colder weather, people tend to stay closer to home. I would say, too, there are some that are questioning how much money people have to spend. People are having to pay a lot of money for food, and if you’ve had to renew your mortgage lately.”

Machniak noted more people may be spending their money on other primary needs first, and being able to live.

“I think there are some businesses that are feeling that pinch,” she said. “Although I’ve had others that would say it might have been slow to start with, but certainly it’s picked up and things have gotten quite busy for them. So that’s a positive thing. We know we have some great stores here in the Battlefords. I hope people take the opportunity to support them.”

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Looking ahead, the chamber is getting ready for its annual chair’s luncheon ceremony on Jan. 30, 2024. The location is still being finalized. The event will see Glenda Rye inducted as the new chair for the year, and a toast to outgoing chair Kayla Petersen.

The guest speaker for the event will be Keith Martell, the former CEO of the First Nations Bank of Canada. Martell will speak about business and economic development as part of his address.

Reflecting on the past year, Machniak said the Battlefords Chamber has been busy.

The chamber has been involved in several projects, including its Battlefords Online Relocation Guide , to help people thinking about moving to the Battlefords.

“That was a big project our student was working on,” Machniak said. “Certainly, that has been a highlight for 2023. We do have a [new] project coming up in 2024, and we’ll keep building on the Relocation Guide and some of the other [initiatives] we’ve done in the past as well.”

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow