By Dick Nichols Western Wheel columnist I went over to the Okotoks Chamber of Commerce office a few days ago to have a year-end chat with president Sara Noyes and executive director Jayme Hall about how things were going. You may recall that the chamber was in something of a financial pinch at the end of last year and had begun to implement a strategic plan to get itself back on the rails. Its first step was to hire Jayme in late 2017, and Sara’s goal for 2018 was to stay the course. “We needed to complete the re-organization and get our feet back under us,” she went on. “To me that meant not reinventing the wheel [but] staying with the events we knew were going to be successful, and letting Jayme get his feet under him.” They also had some new faces on the board and needed to let everybody settle in. The planning process had identified a need to move the chamber from an event-based organization to one that was much more active in advocacy and policy development at the municipal level. The objective was to bring positive change to local economic development and help businesses starting out in Okotoks. “We recently released our first policy – Red Carpet, Not Red Tape,” Jayme said. “Its aim is to help town council make it easier for businesses to navigate the start-up process in Okotoks. The policy was developed in consultation with both Chamber members and non-members.” The purpose of the Red Carpet Not Red Tape policy recommendation was to help the Town council become more aware of a problem some local businesses have encountered. “The Town wants to reduce the residential-to-business tax ratio,” Jayme pointed out. “They aren’t going to be able to do that if they can’t attract more business. And right now, they’re making it very difficult for businesses to start up.” At the same time, the Chamber’s 2018 events – the trade show, golf tournament, Business Excellence Awards and Christmas party – were very successful from both a participation and revenue-generation point of view. The Chamber’s financial outlook has greatly improved. “The membership is supporting our efforts,” Sara said. “The chamber at end of 2018 looks very different from what it did at the end of 2017.” Looking ahead to 2019, Jayme anticipates the chamber will join with its Lethbridge counterpart in sponsoring a provincial policy recommendation on water issues. However, the primary emphasis will continue to be at the municipal level. Both Sara and Jayme emphasized that the Red Carpet Not Red Tape policy was a learning experience and now that they have that first one under their belt, expect it to be a constant trend. “I think a chamber should always be working on local municipal policies and I think 2019 will see a couple of them,” Jayme said. “We’ll be asking our members’ opinions on issues like signage and minimum wage.” Happy Holidays, everybody and here’s to a prosperous 2019 - DN. Dick Nichols writes about business on the third Wednesday of every month in The Western Wheel.
