Celebration of opening of new Swift Current office and Chamber Hub
A new coworking space that caters to the needs of the business community has opened in downtown Swift Current.
The Chamber Hub is an initiative of the Swift Current & District Chamber of
Commerce, which moved to a different location to implement the concept.
The grand opening of the Chamber’s new office and the associated Hub in the Innovation Centre (Suite 210, 198 1st Ave NE) took place during a ribbon cutting ceremony, Feb. 1.
Swift Current MLA Everett Hindley and
Mayor Al Bridal both commended the Chamber for this initiative during their remarks.
“There is much to celebrate as I look around this space,” Bridal said. “Swift Current area startup businesses, small businesses, travelling or freelance business people all stand to benefit greatly by the Chamber Hub. It’s exciting to see this happening in our city, with shared office space being readily available for all kinds of business needs. It’s a step forward for member businesses and all of the southwest.”
Chamber Board Chair Mark Clements said during his remarks the new office is an exciting location to bring the business community together.
“The Chamber Hub is a great representation of the value of networking that the Chamber brings to our southwest business community,” he noted. “That’s exactly what we’ll see through the hot desks and through the offices that are available to bring Chamber members in and start-up businesses to really network, share ideas, and grow with the Chamber.”
The Chamber and several other businesses are leasing office space in the building, which also serves as headquarters of the Innovation Federal Credit Union. The new Chamber office includes staff offices as well as room for the Chamber Hub components, consisting of three partitioned work spaces, known as hot desks, for rental on a daily basis and one private office space for monthly rental. The Chamber office fronts on the secondfloor atrium, which is a convenient space for Hub users to take a break or have a conversation.
Josh Haugerud, the director of membership for the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, attended the grand opening of the new Chamber office location. He shared his impressions about the space and the Chamber Hub during a media interview after the ribbon cutting ceremony.
“This setup is incredible,” he said. “It is a gorgeous space. It is just very welcoming and warm, and having the ability to rent a desk here is going to be really fantastic.
There’s lots of opportunities for Chamber members here in Swift Current to meet other Chamber members just by renting a desk and working out of this space and the folks here have done an incredible job with it.”
He felt it is unusual for a chamber of commerce to provide the opportunity of a coworking space to the business community.
“I know in some of the bigger cities there are hubs that you can rent space in, but nothing that’s specific to a chamber,” he said. “So this may be quite unique just in that situation.”
Swift Current & District Chamber of Commerce CEO Karla Wiens said during a media interview after the ribbon cutting that she is not aware of any other chamber across Canada that has created such a coworking space.
“The co-working concept itself is not unique, but it certainly is for Swift Current and southwest Saskatchewan,” she said. “We saw a need or a gap and we want to fill it.”
The Chamber Hub will provide different users with useful opportunities to connect, collaborate and network. Startup and small businesses may need a physical space to meet and work, but they do not have a budget to rent an office or lease building space. The Hub can also offer a work location for freelancers, consultants, remote workers and business travellers.
According to Wiens the Chamber has been working for almost a year on the initiative to create this Hub.
“Our board is very conscious of their responsibility to the Chamber members,” she said. “So we explored multiple scenarios, different spaces, and this lovely location checked all of the boxes, both for the Chamber Hub itself within our office space, but also with the other areas of the building that we’re able to utilize to put on different sessions and events to provide either education or networking opportunities.”
There is a large meeting space for training activities on the third floor of the building that the Chamber plans to use for information sessions. There is also a third floor boardroom that will be used for Chamber board meetings.
There is a large venue with a full kitchen on the lower level of the Innovation Centre that will be a convenient location for the Chamber’s annual general meeting as well as other events such as Chamber on Tap style networking activities.
Wiens felt the Chamber’s new office location and the Chamber Hub will create opportunities to support the business community.
“My hope and my vision for this space is that we are going to facilitate connections of multiple kinds, facilitate someone getting their dream off the ground and helping business to succeed,” she said. “Our vision is to accomplish all of those goals. We want to help.”