Taking it to the streets for Chamber Connect

We know all too well the need to stay at the forefront of change in this age of disruption and technological advances. However in our race to stay ahead, up-to-date and relevant, we always need to remember there is an ever-present human element we can’t ever overlook or forget about.

We can each attest to the benefits of paying attention to this human element: Establishing connections, building relationships, creating trust and assisting others, despite our technological disruptions. There are many people that have attributed their own success to the time they have spent and personal effort they have contributed towards building their own networks and providing value to others. In turn, these individuals have received the reciprocal benefit of establishing that connection, building that relationship and investing time in others.

As the saying goes, people do business with people they know, like and trust.

Recognizing this importance, our own organization has recently taken a look at our vision and mission and tied our key pillars and goals to the importance of our network. Our vision has been updated to be the most unified, valued and influential business network in our region and our mission is to stimulate a strengthened and vibrant economy through our connections, support and influence.

With our key pillars of connections, support and influence, we want to cultivate increased credibility and awareness of our network, but we know that our vision and mission is only as strong as the goals and actions that follow. As a result, one initiative that we have developed in order to apply this theory in real time is our Chamber Connect program.

During the week of June 5-9, the Chamber of Commerce will be closing our regular office doors and taking our business to the streets of Medicine Hat, Redcliff and Dunmore. Our team of dedicated volunteers and staff will be stopping by the various businesses just to thank them for investing in our community and making a commitment to do business here in southeast Alberta. We want to recognize the time, effort and energy these businesses have invested into making our community the great place it is and thank them for the ongoing commitment to our region. Our goal is to reach 2,000 businesses and to make those connections with each one. It’s our way of getting involved on a more personal level, to put a face to the businesses and to put a face to the Chamber — to connect. We want businesses to know we’re here to support them and to try our best to understand their challenges, so that we can find pathways that may potentially alleviate those challenges. We want to utilize the information we gather to help influence what we do and influence decision makers in order to make our region an even better place to live, work, play and invest in.

We want to show our businesses that we are genuinely here to help, that we sincerely want to make a difference, that we are present and we here to listen and connect with you.

We recognize that we won’t be able to reach every single business in a mere one week’s timeframe, but we know we need to start somewhere and we are applying this theory of connection in real time to see what impact we have made, and the impact we can make, now and into the future.

We invite you to connect with us online at www.medicinehatchamber.com or in person at 413 Sixth Ave. S.E. and we look forward to seeing you in the near future.

Lisa Kowalchuk is the executive director of the Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce. For more information on this column or the Chamber, contact 403-527-5214.

“We want businesses to know we’re here to support them and to try our best to understand their challenges, so that we can find pathways that may potentially alleviate those challenges.”