Is everyone in the spirit of the Chucks?

Michelle Lake did a great job of painting the front door at the Community Services Centre where the Chamber office is located. Carley and Kathy also decorated the front foyer in a western theme. Stop by and have a look. Although the Chamber isn't entered to win any prizes, our president, Kevin Lundell, will be one of the judges when the NewCap crew hit the streets on Thursday afternoon to inspect all of the artwork and decorating that businesses have had some fun with. Thanks to all of the businesses who participated in decorating their businesses to welcome the hundreds of drivers, families and fans to town for the CPCA finals.

This fall the Chamber will be considering how we can keep the conversation going following the visit from the Premiers Council on the Economy in Alberta. There are copies of the executive summary available at the office and we would be interested in hearing from you if you might be interested in looking at the recommendations of the Premiers Council members. A copy of the full report can also be found on the government website.

The Chamber has two committees that assist the Board of Directors in their work.  The Political Action committee is responsible for community scans to determine what the most pressing issues are facing businesses in Lloydminster and then bringing those issues to the table for discussion and possible action in the form of a formal policy resolution. The issues  might be municipal, provincial or national in nature. Our Chamber has been quite successful when our voice is joined with other Chambers across the provinces and the nation in having governments listen to our suggestions and recommendatons.

The second committee is the Membership Relations committee. This committee reviews the various programs, activities and events of the Chamber, recommends suggestions for change or ugrade and introduces ideas for new events. Both of these committees meet monthly at noon hour and in addition to doing important work for the Chamber and the business community, they have lots of fun. It is a great way to get to know your fellow business person, and a way to have a voice with your local Chamber. If you have lived in Lloydminster for one year and if you are interested in becoming involved in either of these committees, please give me a call at the Chamber office and we can begin the approval process.

Another way that you can be involved with your Chamber on an ad hoc basis is as an event volunteer. The annual trade show is fast approaching in November and volunteers are always needed to assist with this event. Again, call the Chamber office if you would like to participate in this interesting and fun volunteer opportunity.

The City of Lloydminster, the owner of the  Community Services Centre, has approved some upgrades to the Centre. The board room has been redecorated, the windows are being sealed and painted and air conditioning installed. These are welcome upgrades and the tennants and user groups of this building are most appreciative.  There are 10 permanent tenants in the building as well as dozens of casual user groups who use the board room or one of the meeting rooms on a regular basis. The Chamber manages the rental of the meeting rooms under a contract with the City of Lloydminster.

Perhaps I will see you at the Chucks this week or at the Nine & Dine next week.

I hope you are checking us out on Twitter and Facebook.
Until next time..........                                                                                                             
Pat

How do you welcome tourists to our City?

Last week Kathy and I attended a meeting at Lloydminster Economic Development Corporation. They hosted a noon hour luncheon with speaker Jim Marshel from Travel Alberta. Jim oulined some of the changes to the Destination Marketing Regions and provided some thought provoking ideas for marketing our City and region. The Chamber's involvement with Travel Alberta goes back 12 years when we began managing the Travel Alberta Visitor Information Centre under a contract with Alberta Tourism. The goal was at that time and still is to inform tourists about the City and our region while at the same time marketing Alberta. We have had a couple of "secret shops" at our VIC and the feedback has been excellent. We are very proud of our staff at the VIC and the excellent job they do serving our visitors.

This next week we will have an opportunity to serve tourists in a big way as we welcome the drivers, families and fans of the CPCA. The Chamber will be getting into the spirit of the "chucks" by decorating our office. We encourage our members to also decorate by painting your windows, decorating the interior  of your business, or just dressing up western style for the week. The Lloyd Ex has some great events happening to add to the excitement so be sure to check out their website.

Be sure to check us out on Twitter. We have been tweeting for the last few days and we have a new facebook page as well. We hope that this will help us to reach more businesses in our community. Be sure to watch for special events and networking opportunities.

The City has been busy looking after some of the areas that our members tell us are issues or concerns. Highway 17 south has been receiving some upgrades and highway 16 west of 52 Ave. has also been recieving some repairs. Although this may be annoying, it is necessary for all of us to be patient, as the window of opportunity to get this work done is short and all the rain this year has made finishing up on projects like these difficult.

Streetscapes is pleased to see the new sidewalks depicting our border downtown being finished. Some of us may be indifferent to our border, but folks from out of town get quite excited to walk down the border and have a foot in two provinces at one time. It is one of our biggest tourist attractions and we need to promote it as much as we can.

Hope everyone is having a safe and relaxing summer.

Till next time ....
Pat