By Liam Verster

Plans for the new year

Chamber of Commerce looks to busy year ahead

Dec 27, 2019 | 2:47 PM

2019 was a busy year for the Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce, and it seems like 2020 will also require a lot of work.

Over the course of the year, the Chamber was involved in numerous events throughout the community, and they also held a successful petroleum show, which allowed businesses to make important connections and showcase their work.

CEO of the Chamber, Tanya Oliver, says they were also very busy with both the Provincial and Federal Elections, where they did their part to engage with the public.

“We did our due diligence with offering forums for both elections, and also met with all the candidates prior to the Provincial Election. Which was really good, we were able to share our platform as a Chamber, and also prepare them for the forums as well. No matter what the outcome, we knew we were going to have two new representatives, so we wanted to make sure we started that relationship with everybody.”

She says the Chamber also saw in increase in memberships, and in the new year, they will be increasing their online presence and upgrading the website, which will allow members to be able to be more involved with the Chamber, as well as pay their dues online.

Throughout the year, the Chamber heard from many of it’s members that job growth and employment opportunities are lacking in Grande Prairie, and some sort of action needed to be taken. Working alongside the Alberta Chamber of Commerce, Oliver says they called on the new provincial government to consider 17 key recommendations through the About Prosperity campaign, which comes from the policy books of the Chamber of Commerce. 13 of the recommendations have already been adopted, and Oliver says they will continue working with the government to put the remaining recommendations in place in the new year.

Another initiative the Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce is pushing is to have Statistics Canada re-draw their economic boundaries. In 2015, the boundaries were expanded to include Banff and Jasper as part of the region, and Oliver is unimpressed by this decision.

“It doesn’t provide us with accurate data, it doesn’t provide Jasper with accurate data, we’re very different economies. So our policy is for the government to re-think the way that they do the boundaries, and ultimately we want ours re-drawn. But really it doesn’t make any sense why it got changed in the first place, and when we were doing our research Stats-Canada told us the reason it was changed was because both regions are rural, and our economies are similar. And our economies couldn’t be more different, so we are going to be diving into more this upcoming year, so that we can hopefully get more accurate employment data, and more accurate stats for our area.”

She says they are also working with other municipalities to gather more accurate employment data for the area, though that project is still in the very early stages.

Oliver says along with these initiatives, the Chamber will continue it’s work throughout the community, and hopes to see more economic growth in the city in the new year.