Chamber Chatter May 21 2019
Connecting Business. Creating Opportunity.
This is our weekly summary of upcoming events and other reminders
to help keep you up to date with what's happening at the
Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce

We remind you about our Connections newsletter on the 1st and 15th of the month and encourage you as a Member of the Chamber to take advantage of that FREE opportunity to promote your business! 
Take this survey to have your voice heard with Alberta's new government.

Dear Chamber Member,

The Alberta Chambers of Commerce (ACC) have started an exciting initiative to provide you and others in the Alberta business community an opportunity to express your views on the important issues facing the province. 

Now is a good time for the business community to speak up to inform the deliberations the provincial government is undertaking to renew Alberta's business environment:

  • Blue Ribbon Panel on Alberta’s finances to provide government a path to fiscal renewal
  • Red Tape Reduction Action Plan to reduce regulatory costs by one-third on Alberta businesses
  • Minimum wage expert panel to analyze the impacts of minimum wage increases since 2015

The ACC intends to make sure that your voices are heard and considered by political decision makers.  We want to provide chamber members with an avenue to communicate their priorities and inform government action that impacts business.

We invite you to share your views by completing a survey.  Your responses will help inform our work with government and allow the perspectives and priorities of business in regions across the province to be expressed by the ACC in the media.  The survey will take approximately 12 minutes to complete. 


The survey is being conducted for the ACC with the assistance of The Strategic Counsel, a national public opinion firm, and Asking Canadians, an online data collection firm.

Survey responses will not in any way be linked to your personal information at an individual level.  The Strategic Counsel will not know the personal identities of respondents, and the ACC will receive only de-identified data on completion of the project.

If you have any questions about this survey, please contact Jason Leslie at  JLeslie@abchamber.ca

If you have any questions of a technical nature (i.e. problems with the functioning of the survey) please email Lisa Fulford at  lfulford@thestrategiccounsel.com

This is an important initiative for the Alberta Chamber network across the province and your involvement is very much appreciated.  Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete this survey.

Ken Kobly 
President and CEO 
Alberta Chambers of Commerce
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The Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce Executive and CEO will be attending the Alberta Chambers of Commerce 81st Annual Provincial Conference & Policy Plenary Session this weekend in Camrose.

Our Chamber is sponsoring the policy: Rethinking the Boundaries: Capturing Data that Reflect a More Accurate Picture of Alberta’s Diverse Economies. This policy, co-sponsored by the Jasper Park Chamber, will recommend that the Government of Alberta, through the Alberta Office of Statistical Information (AB OSI), work with Statistics Canada to develop a model of decision-making to define the boundaries of Alberta’s economic regions (ERs) that ensure ERs produce robust and reliable LFS data that best reflect the economic landscapes and labour forces across Alberta. 

Our Chamber is also co-sponsoring a policy submitted by the Red Deer Chamber on better health care that will recommend the Government of Alberta execute and implement the recommendations of a third-party system delivery review of Alberta health care services with the goal of increasing efficiency and delivery of services.

Our Chamber will also be supporting Past Chair Shawna Miller who will be sworn in as the new Chair of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce for 2019-20.
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The Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce recently submitted a letter to the Government of Alberta Minister of Infrastructure regarding the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital. The body of that letter was as follows:

The Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce is a non-partisan advocacy organization that represents over 1300 member-businesses, equating to over 25,000 employees. It has come to our attention that some of these members are among a number of small and medium-sized sub-contractors and sub-trades currently suffering financial hardship due to non-payment of construction contracts for the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital. 

Payment for some of these contractors has been outstanding for nearly a year. Not only has this put an immediate financial burden on these businesses, some have even been forced to close their doors. Others have had their ability to bid on future work put in jeopardy due to credit limitations.

These businesses are required to pay GST on money that is owed; taxes must be paid on accrued income; interest charges must be paid if they were forced to borrow until payment is received; and, legal fees must be covered if they hope to receive payment in the future. Finally, there is no guarantee that these businesses will receive all of the monies they are owed for equipment and labour that have already been put in place.

Until this matter is resolved, we would support the execution of a loan guarantee program to financially assist the contractors who have completed the work for which they were hired. This is only one suggestion in our goal to incite the development of ideas that reimburse these businesses expediently and fairly.

We are asking that the government take an active role in ensuring the survival of good businesses and employment of good people in our community and region.
The Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce welcome our Members and invited guests to a Business After 5 Mixer hosted by Chrenek Dion and Associates of RBC Dominion Securities on Thursday, May 30, 2019 from 5:00-7:00 PM.

The address is #303, 9906 - 106 Street, Grande Prairie.

Join us for an evening of networking, refreshments, and door prizes while finding out more about our host.

There's no cost to attend and no registration required!
SAVE THE DATES!

The Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce has upcoming Ribbon Cuttings for the following Member Businesses:

June 1 - Crowned Beauty at 1:30 PM in their NEW Prairie Mall location.

Crowned Beauty is a Hair Heaven! They have wigs, hair toppers, hair extensions of all kinds, ponytails, hair care and accessories. Their new addition will be a specialty based salon with services like hair extensions Installations, wig cutting and styling & hair braiding.

Their services cater to women or men going through hair loss and are looking for hair replacement solutions. So they have women going through chemotherapy or suffering from alopecia. women who look for hair pieces for fashion or for hair volume, and they have amazing hair care.

For the Grand Opening they plan on having snacks for everyone, and will be open for business so people will be buying products and touring the store. 
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June 5 - Supplement King at 6:00 PM in their NEW location at #104, 11535 Westgate Drive

At Supplement King , they know that everyone who walks through their doors or browses their website has a health and fitness goal. They are dedicated to helping you achieve those goals, no matter what they might be! They are proud to offer the largest selection, best service, most knowledgeable staff and lowest prices in Canada.
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June 13 - Design Works Engineering & Inspections at 12:30 PM in their NEW location at 116 8805 Resources Road

Design Works Engineering doesn’t just design a building - they design solutions. From the ground up, everything they do is based on cutting edge standards and practices. Impressive teams design impressive buildings. 

This event will include a barbecue and refreshments!
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June 20 - Mortgage Line (formerly River City Financial) at their location at
18, 9701 - 84 Avenue. More details TBA.

With nearly ten years in business and more than 26 years of experience in the Alberta mortgage industry, River City Financial knows mortgages. Thei r team  is passionate about helping others. They are centred on helping clients fulfill their dreams of home ownership at  affordable rates , and are available to answer all of your questions.

Watch your emails and our website for updated information on these events.
2019 CANWEST CHAMBER MEMBER GOLF CLASSIC
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Grande Prairie Golf & Country Club
8:00 AM Registration
10:00 AM Shotgun Start
4:30 PM Buffet Dinner
5:00 PM Prize Presentations

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS: 

TITLE SPONSOR : CANWEST GROUP BENEFIT CONSULTANTS

WATERING HOLE SPONSOR : FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON GRANDE PRAIRIE
LUNCH SPONSOR : COMPASS ACCESS SOLUTIONS
TEAM CART SPONSORS : HUB INTERNATIONAL INSURANCE BROKERS
                                     COUNTY OF GRANDE PRAIRIE
                                     OVERHEAD DOOR CO. OF GRANDE PRAIRIE
BEVERAGE CART SPONSORS
GW HOLDINGS BUILDING CONSULTING SERVICES
EDWARD'S FACTORY OUTLET
HOLE IN ONE SPONSORS :
CANWEST GROUP BENEFIT CONSULTANTS 
                     PARADISE INN & CONFERENCE CENTRE GRANDE PRAIRIE
HOLE SPONSORS : CANADIAN WESTERN BANK 
                           COUNTY OF GRANDE PRAIRIE
                                                    
REMAINING AVAILABLE SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:
GRAND PRIZE 
TEAM CART (1)
PHOTOGRAPHY 
HOLE IN ONE (X2)
HOLE SPONSOR (X12)

4-Person Texas Scramble Format
Member Registration: $150+GST/person; ($600+GST/four-person team)
Green Fees, Power Carts, and Buffet Supper included

For a registration form, please CLICK HERE

* Please contact Cindy Simigan at    cindy@gpchamber.com   for sponsorship opportunities and/or if you are interested in donating team prizes (four individual items or four gift packs) and/or hole prizes to promote your business. 
 
For sponsorship information, please CLICK HERE
CHAMBER MEMBERS DIGITAL SIGN

The Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce offers the opportunity for our Members to advertise themselves, their events and promotions on our  digital sign at Centre 2000 . Not-for-Profit Member Rates also available. Now taking yearly, monthly, and weekly bookings.

For rate information, contract terms, and design guidelines please contact Leah Fujarczuk, Membership Sales & Services Manager, email  leah@gpchamber.com , or phone at 780-532-5340.
For Chamber Member to Member Discounts , please click here .

To offer your own M2M Discount, contact Membership Services Manager Leah Fujarczuk by email leah@gpchamber.com or by phone 780-532-5340.
For Chamber Value Added Benefits , please click here .
Email info@gpchamber.com|Phone 780-532-5340 | Fax 780-532-2926