Swift Current and District Chamber of Commerce excited for coming year
Brock Friesen has been formally elected as the Chairperson of the Swift Current and District Chamber of Commerce for the coming year.
Friesen was handed the reigns of the Chamber during their recent annual meeting, and he replaces Michel Deguire who served two terms at the helm of the Chamber
“It’s an honour to serve as Chair on this board,” Friesen said following his selection. “As community builders we always have had strong leadership, but I think right now, in our position, I think we are the strongest we have ever been.”
He is a strong believer in the importance of the Chamber to the community, and is looking forward to tackling the challenges of strengthening the Chamber this coming year.
“I think the challenge for any Chamber in any City is getting membership, retaining them, and getting more of them. We need to keep our members engaged, and we also need to engage our members.”
He noted the Chamber, which boasted 341 business members at the time of their annual meeting, will be putting a strong focus on member engagement and improvements for the coming year.
“We’re looking at overall just being a little bit more efficient Chamber, and as well catering to our membership, retaining our membership, and going forward.”
Deguire reported on his experience during the past two terms as Chairperson, noting that the Chamber was able to celebrate a series of business achievements this past year. Among the highlights of the past two years was the addition of the fastest hole of golf in June, hosting a sold out SCBEX Awards with a new business category this past fall. Plus, for the first time since 1992, a Swift Current business earned recognition at the provincial level. Black Bridge Brewery was the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce’s 2016 ABEX Award Winner in the New Venture category, and Standard Motors won the Community Cornerstone Award.
The Chamber also added Mike Rogowski as an Executive Assistant in October of this past year, which Deguire credits for being able to allow the Chamber to give more attention to their membership through business visits and event coordinating.
“Our Director Board is very, very strong,” he added during the annual meeting. “2017 looks like a very good year.”
“I feel there are favourable winds in this community in the foreseeable future.” The Chamber of Commerce also formally welcomed Kelsey Adam, Vim Parmar and Karen Richmond as new directors on the board during the annual meeting.