Chair Glenda Rye, left, and chief operating officer Linda Machniak at Tuesday's meeting. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Annual general meeting

Battlefords Chamber of Commerce hopes to implement information kiosks

Feb 13, 2024 | 2:59 PM

The Battlefords Chamber of Commerce gave an overall promising report to members at Tuesday’s Annual General Meeting.

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

Chief Operating Officer Linda Machniak said the past year was a busy one. One of the highlights of the year was the online Battlefords Relocation Guide that was completed.

“We always have lots going on at the chamber,” Machniak said.

Currently, the chamber has about 294 active and courtesy members, close to on par with the prior year’s tally.

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On the capital side, the chamber’s new lift continues to receive positive reviews since it was installed in 2022, a major project for the chamber.

A significant project the chamber hopes to take on in 2024 is implementing self-serve kiosk systems to be used as information hubs in different locations in the city, where visitors can stop at a mobile unit that will list some of the businesses, attractions and services available in the Battlefords area. The systems would function with easy to use touchscreens.

The units can cost anywhere from $2,500 to $15,000, depending on the model. The chamber is applying for a grant to help make the project possible.

“We call it a quick tourist project,” Machniak said. “It’s from a company we’re working with out of Vancouver to provide visitor information touchscreen opportunities for visitors and locals to find out what’s going on in the community, with a network of kiosks that would be placed throughout the region.”

The chamber would like to have eight or 10 kiosks to start with, and ultimately also have a couple large mobile units that could be installed, for example, at the ski hill in the winter, or at the Dekker Centre or the Curling Club throughout the year, “so people have access to places to stay, places to eat, places to shop and things to do when they are in the community.”

Machniak said this project would be a good way to showcase the entire region, including smaller communities that don’t often have the opportunity to promote their tourism, as well as First Nation communities’ activities.

“There’s lots of things that people could come and explore in the region,” Machniak said. “My hope is to roll them out this summer.”

The chamber also hopes to receive a part-time co-op student again this year.

Also at the meeting, Machniak presented the budget for 2024, which was adopted.

On the financial side for the chamber’s 2024 budget on the general operating account, the organization is anticipating revenues of $379,600 for member service delivery; and $50,000 for the Battlefords Business Excellence Awards (BBEX), for a total of $429,600. Expenses for member service delivery are projected at $371,600; and BBEX shows expenses of $40,000, for a total of $411,600. The 2024 operating budget reflects a projected surplus of $18,000.

Representatives from accounting firm Swanson, Gryba, and Company presented the 2023 financial statements. In total for the 2023 fiscal year end, the chamber had an operating deficit of about $11,000 to what was budgeted. But part of that amount is an adjustment from the 2022 financial statements, so the actual deficit for 2023 is closer to around $1,100, Machniak explained.

“Basically, we were pretty good,” she said. “There was just an adjustment that was done on the previous year’s (2022) numbers… from the [new lift] construction project and [items] that needed to be adjusted for. But we ended up not too bad in the big picture.”

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @battlefordsNOW