It's great to see the sun ...

As I look out my window I see dirt piles and heavy equipment. Not the prettiest of sights, but it is the look of progress. The construction of the new RCMP facility has begun. This will provide much needed space for the expanding police force that is necessary to serve our rapidly growing community. Now if the rain will hold off for a bit the construction workers will have time to move forward on a number of projects that are on the go.

I enjoyed an 8 day vacation to Manitoba the beginning of June. The water, water everywhere scenerio of southern Saskatchewan and most of Manitoba was incredible to see. The work that has gone into diking and sandbagging to help prevent catastrophic damage and the innovative ways to get heavy oil tankers out to pump tanks off at well sights was also very interesting. Looked like the wild west movie town wooden sidewalks ... only bigger.

If you weren't able to come downtown on June 11th for the 2nd Annual Streetscapes Co. Downtown Streetfest, you missed a great time. The main stage was active with dancers, bands, singers, & fashion shows, while the streets held great food and lots of fun and things to see and do for all ages. The art market was held inside the Atrium Centre and presented works from many local artists. Thanks to all of the downtown volunteers who worked very hard to make sure this day was a great success. The rain also cooperated until about 3:00 pm.

The Lloydminster Chamber was pleased to host four members of the Premier's Council on Economic Strategy on Wednesday. The information shared was very interesting and can be found through a link on the Chamber website at http://www.lloydminsterchamber.com/ .

The Chamber met with City Council and City senior administrators  today. This annual meeting is valuable to both the City and the Chamber in that it provides an opportunity to ensure that the leaders in the community understand the agenda's of each other and can offer discussion and assistance when necessary. There are a couple of joint nitiatives that may be pursued over the next while. It is important to make sure that we are speaking with one voice when we meet with politicians and goverment leaders.

Our members were given an invitation to participate with the Political Action Committee to let our MLA's hear about the issues and concerns that business people have concerning the health care issues in our City. Several businesses took the opportunity to tell their stories and share their concerns. We hope that receiving this information will be helpful to our MLA's as they take forward our concerns to government. The Chamber has been invited to participate on the Primary Health Care working groups in both Alberta and Saskatchewan. In this way, the voice of the business community will be heard.

The Charity Golf Tournament yesterday just couldn't have had better weather. I know there was a lot of anxious people after the many inches of rain that came down on the week-end. Our community came out again with their generosity to support the Health Foundation and several other non-profit organizations in the community.

Alberta Venture magazine rated Lloydminster again as one of the best places to start a business. It seems that we just continue to be in that top ranking for our business success and the place to be. What is it that makes us such a great place for business? Well, I think that we have had some very successful and community minded individuals who have blazed the trail over the years, we are determined and innovative, we are generous and welcoming and we are supportive. Who wouldn't want to try their hand at a business in Lloydminster? The Chamber welcomed over 55 new members last year bringing our numbers to over 540 members. A strong Chamber, a City Hall and Economic Deveopment Corp that are open to business and a generous community, first class facilities and every amenity that a regional centre can offer, make Lloydminster the ideal place to locate a business.

Till next time.....Pat

Golfing season is in full swing ...

The Chamber golf tournament has been full for awhile now. Hope you got your team in and will be joining us on Tuesday for one of the first, and certainly one of the best golf tournaments of the season. Once again, Tim Dyck, our Chamber Group Insurance agent,  is the title sponsor and joining us for the day is the Regional Marketing supervisor for the Chambers Group Insurance from Calgary, Ken Willoughby and his assistant, Garret from Edmonton. We will have some of the same fun games - Marshmellow shot across the mush line, Chip to the Cooler sponsored by MNP and the 'closest to the MLA' sponsored by Tim McMillan. Put that together with some great hole sponsors, outstanding prizes, breakfast sponsored by Cliff Rose for Clothes and JDG Construction, Champagne orange juice starter compliments of Peg & Gary over at Chatter's Hair Salon, the Mulligan draw sponsored by Mayor Mulligan & AHHA Moments and a delicious steak barbecue ... WOW.. what a great day. Proceeds from the special games and the fairway barbecue will once again be donated to the Drug Strategy Committee.

The Travel Alberta Visitor Information Centre is open and Jenna, Chelsey, Jordyn and Julie look forward to meeting everyone at the June mixer or stop on out and say hi and get your travel information for your vacation in Alberta this year. With the price of gas, it might be a good idea to check out some of the great things to do and see right here in our home province. They can help you to choose some events and sites right here in our region.

You should all have received your special Chamber e-newsletter with the request that you take a few minutes and set up your letter concerning health care issues in Lloydminster and send it off to your MLA with a copy to the Chamber office. There is a place in the letter for you to tell your story about any concerns you have encountered with your health care needs in Lloydminster. This in an opportunity for our MLA's to hear real stories from real people and your chance to let your voice be heard. This will assist them when they go to bat for our community. If you haven't received your newsletter, go to the Chamber website http://www.lloydminsterchamber.com/ and link up from there.

We are very pleased to be hosting the Alberta Premiers Council on the Economy in Lloydminster on June 22. If you would like to attend, please call the Chamber office at 780-875-9013.

The Alberta Chamber Executives conference will also be held in Lloydminster in July. We will host about 40 Chamber executive directors from both provinces for three days of professional development. We will also be doing all we can to inform them about our community so that they can take that information home with them and spread the word that Lloydminster is indeed a great place to visit.

I will be away on vacation from June 1 to the 12 so I will catch up with the blog when I get back.

Till next time....
Pat

On the road again .....

It has been a while since I have written in this blog. Every year in May my car gets a good workout. I attended the Saskatchewan Chamber AGM & policy session in Regina  the first week of May and the Alberta Chamber Conference & policy session in St. Albert May 12 - 14. In between I took the Travel Alberta Visitor Information Centre staff on a familiarization tour of areas in the region.

At the Provincial policy sessions I presented the Lloydminster Chamber resolution on "providing support for quailty, regulated pre-kindergarten programs to faciliate a timely return to the workforce for parents". This resolution was adopted by both provincial chambers and will now move forward to the provincial governments. Visit the Alberta Chamber website to view the adopted policy resolutions.

The All Candidates Forum for the federal election was well attended. We had seven of the nine candidates out to answer questions from our community and members.  I attended the grand re-opening of the Golf and Curling Centre. The dedications to Peter Cushner and Anne Townsend were moving and so well deserved. 

We enjoyed having a practicum student from the Lakeland College Events Coordinator course working with us for six weeks. Eleana assisted us with many tasks and we hope that her experience with us was helpful and fun.

The Downtown Clean-up breakfast was well attended and Streetscapes is grateful to all of the industrious workers from several businesses in the downtown who were out with their brooms, garbage bags and weeding gloves, helping to make our downtown a bit cleaner. A delicious breakfast was enjoyed at the Central Suite hotel.

The United Way and Midwest Communications business mixer was held on May 11th. About $116,000. was handed out to the United Way member agencies.

As a board member of the Lloydminster Economic Development Corporation I attended a planning session on May 17th. This was an opportunity for this new organization to set some goals for the next few months.  That same day, prior to the Chamber board meeting, the board toured the Lloydminster hospital. Thanks to Tricia and Georgina for helping us to understand the complexities of operating a health care centre in our border city.

We have had contact concerning our sister chamber in Slave Lake. Annie is fine, her office and her home has been spared but devastation is far reaching. The Lloydminster chamber has offered some of our facilities for use by any businesses from Slave Lake who may be staying with relatives in Lloydminster. A spare desk and computer can be used if necessary. Other assistance is being considered by the board in cooperation with the Alberta Chambers of Commerce.

Remember the deadline for Business Awards nominations is coming up. Get your nominations in before June 15th and if you know a student who is considering further education in an agricultural field, alert them to the JA McLean and Dunstan scholarships administered by the Chamber.

Till next time ....
Pat

Is spring here yet .... ?

It looks like we might get spring yet.  I hope that all of our businesses are taking a survey of their property and planning a clean up day. Let's try to make our city as clean as we can. I know, we have lots of big agricultural and oil industry trucks and service units travelling around town which speaks well for our economy, but tends to track in a lot of mud. I have seen the City street cleaners out so that is a good sign of spring, and they are doing their part to clean up the streets. Let's all help.

Staff Corine and Kathy along with Randy Aston and his Golf Tournament committee have been busy putting the plans in place for the golf tournament on May 31st. Do you have your entry in yet? Better hurry, it has been known to sell out. There will be a few new twists and surprises this year along with some of the old favorites.

I was pleased to attend an information meeting at the Immigration Gateway office in April. This location serves newcomers to our community and has been busy with new programs and services. It is located at the corner of 48th street and 51st Ave.

As a member of the board of the Economic Development Corportation, I attended the board meeting this past month. LEDCorp is in their new digs across from ESSO on highway 17 north. If you get a minute stop in and say hi to Ward and Katlyn.

On April 20th I attended the Alberta Chambers of Commerce board of directors meeting and Political Action Day in Edmonton. The new format included presentations from all four opposition leaders as well as dinner with the MLA's. The premier was unable to attend this year as he was at the western premiers conference in Vancouver.

I enjoyed a delicious lunch today at the Sask Tourism Ready to Work program along with several of my colleagues. This program is winding down for the spring and will start up again in the fall. I'll be off to Lakeland College in a few minutes for the All Candidates Forum for the federal election. We will hear from 8 candidates tonight.

Don't forget about the Admin Professional Day on April 27th. Your secretary could win the afternoon off with $500.00 in downtown gift cards to be spent that day. Better yet, you could have Kurt Price from Lloyd FM and his sidekick, Heather Klages manning your phones. That could be interesting.

Don't forget about the Golf & Curling Centre grand re-opening on tomorrow beginning at 3:00 pm. I have had a tour of the facility and the new renovations have it looking great.
Make sure you get out and vote on May 2nd. It is your right, your privelege as well as your obligation to the best country in the world, Canada.

Till next time .....
Pat

Chamber President put to the test.....

Our Chamber president, Kevin Lundell, has been a busy guy this past week. Reading to students at Father Gorman school along with myself and several other community members, to participating in a spelling bee at Lloydmall on Friday as part of Adult Learning Week with yours truly as a judge, made for a fun and entertaining time. Congratulations to Lakeland College president, Glenn Charlesworth for coming out as the winner of the spelling bee, with reference librarian, Michelle Duczek a close second. Our president did well enough. It was a tricky word that knocked him out in the 4th round.

I hear Chamber member, Wayde Blythe, has become a movie star. Watch for him in the third edition of Sure Shot III Moving on Up. Apparently this type of work isn't as easy or as glamerous as you might think!

Today at noon, President Kevin spoke at Rotary covering some of the upcoming events and plans for the Chamber over the next year. Rotary and the Chamber work together quite often to promote speakers to the business community.

Congratulations to board member, Stephanie Dobson and husband Nicholas on the birth of their son, Mathew. Mathew has already attended a Rotary meeting and is expected to show up at the Chamber meetings over the next week or two.

The Sask Tourism & Lakeland College "Ready to Work" program lunches are ongoing this month. There are still a couple of spots available to attend and enjoy a fabulous lunch prepared and  served as part of the practicum for students of this program. Give me a call if you might like to attend.

The Mega Mixer for the Chamber is being held this week on Wed. at the Wayside Inn. Be sure to stop in at 5:00 for some great food, interesting exhibits and lots of helpful networking. If you are a new business, this is the place to be to get to know the business community and promote your business. It is also a good place to keep up to date on the upcoming Chamber events and of course the chance to win door prizes is a great draw. Hope to see you there.

Till next time ....
Pat

Business Education Month Wrap up event was another huge success. There were trade tables, a fashion show and a fabulous speaker, not to mention the excellent meal that is a well known trade mark of the Lloyd Ex.  The sponsor for the event, Community Futures and CanSask along with the Kick-off Sponsors Synergy Credit Union, Servus Credit Union and Alberta Employment & Immigration make it possible to stage a first rate Business Ed Month each year. The partnerhip of Community Futures; Lloydminster Learning Council; Lloydminster Contruction Assoc.; Lakeland College; Streetscapes Co. and the Chamber makes for a varied and interesting mix of ideas and skills and has worked well for 11 years.   Picture at the right: Lloydminster's First Lady, Kathy Mulligan, Guest Speaker, Pat Katz, Sponsor, Community Futures, Barb Williard. Back row: Pat Tenney, Chamber of Commerce; Kara Johnston, Lakeland College; Dorothy Carsen, Construction Assoc.; Darlene  MacDonald, Learning Council

I was pleased to attend the ATCO luncheon on Tuesday where they unveiled their plans for their new operations centre in Lloydminster. This is good news for our community as we move along in our growth. ATCO Electric has been a huge supporter of our community and they show confidence and further support by investing in and locating this new operations centre here.

We have been busy with interviews to staff our Travel Alberta Centre this summer. The Centre opens May 20th and our Industry Open House will be held there in July.

Did anyone go down to "star in the movies" today. The "Sure Shot 3 Moving On Up:  The G.M.'s
Office" that is. This crew will be filming at the Civic Centre today. I will be pleased to attend the sponsors open house at the end of the week. 

Our fealess president, Kevin Lundell will be participating in the Adult Learning promotion "spelling bee" at the Lloydmall on Friday at noon . I hear he is up against our Mayor, Jeff and perhaps the Lakeland College pres, Glenn Charlesworth among others. This should be fun. I will participate as a judge. I will have the advantage of having the list of the words with the correct spelling. Good luck Kevin.

On April 7th, Kevin and I will be participating in the Rotoract Reading Circle at Father Gorman School. These are two of the great events planned for International Adult Learners week.

On April 11th, Kevin and I will attend the Lloydminster Rotary Club meeting where Kevin will be the guest speaker. It is an opportunity for the Chamber to outline some of the plans for the year and answer any questions from Rotarians, many who are Chamber members.

Streetscapes is busy planning for the Downtown Festival which will be held on June 11th. A very successful meeting was held this morning, and several business leaders in the downtown stepped up to take a coordinating role. This cooperation and sharing of tasks makes it possible to stage another great event this year, bringing hundreds of people to the downtown core.

Till next time....

Pat



Is Spring Here?

As I look out my window today and see the snow melting, the sun shining and the little bunny rabbit hopping around enjoying the warm weather I reflect about how I really do like our four seasons. Perhaps winter could be a bit shorter but my vacation to southern climes for a couple of weeks helped to make the winter shorter.

Our board met for a day of planning on March 22nd and a new vision statement and future focus will be revealed over the next few weeks. It has been five years since our last planning session and our environment has changed somewhat and our goals have been achieved. It was time to set a new direction.

Business Education month wrapped up on Wednesday night with the Women In Business event. Speaker, Pat Katz reminded us that if we are to be healthy, productive individuals it is necessary to pause every so often and rest and renew. The fashon show, trade show booths and the fun and fellowship enjoyed by the women who participated made the work of this event very worthwhile.

Our president, Kevin Lundell was in attendance at the Lakeland College scholarship night on March 9th and enjoyed dinner and conversation with Laura Burgess and Taylor Weighill, the recipients of the Chamber of Commerce business scholarships.

Our Chamber vice president, Leana Ross attended the Heavy Crude Oil bonspiel and brought greetings on behalf of the Chamber. Congratulations to Doug Gilby, this years Oilman of the Year.

During Business Education month the Chamber held two workshops on Labour Standards. One for Alberta and one for Saskatchewan. My colleagues look at me strange when I tell them that we in Lloydminster work twice as hard as the rest of Canada because we have to do two of everything.

Speaking of doubling up,  we will be holding an all Candidates forum for the federal election .. again for candidates from both sides of the border. This forum is set for Tuesday, April 26th. We are still working out the details but mark you calendar for this opportunity to questions the candidates who will be running in the election on May 2nd.

Streetscapes Co. held their AGM on March 23rd at the Royal Canadian Legion. Welcome to new board members Corry Bates and Dabir Naqvi. Streetscapes is currently in the planning phase for the Downtown Street Fest on June 11th.

Sask Tourism Education Council, in conjuction with Lakeland College and Service Canada,  is holding their spring session of the Ready to Work program. Part of the program includes a practicum where the students, under the direction of a Red Seal Chef, prepare and serve lunches to the community. If you are interested in participating in these lunches, please give me a call. There are limited tickets and they are allotted on a first come first serve basis.

Sure Shot III filming will begin in Lloydminster next week. It will interesting to observe how this "hockey movie" starring some of our local folks will turn out. The Chamber along with several of our members and the City of Lloydminster have supported this initiative. Seeing our Chamber board sign in the movie will be exciting.

Till next time....
Pat