NORTH BATTLEFORD – Tuesday night marked the final meeting for Melanie Roberts as chair of the Battlefords Chamber of Commerce.
Roberts handed the gavel to incoming chair Derek Schmidt of Bill and Don’s Men's Wear. Schmidt will formally take over next Tuesday, Jan. 25 when he is sworn in at the Chair’s Banquet at Blend Restaurant.
The meeting also saw the Chamber board formally elect its officers to serve on their executive for 2022-23.
Appointed to the executive in a unanimous vote of board are: Melanie Roberts - past chair, Derek Schmidt - chair, Kayla Peterson - vice-chair, Tisha Carriere - second vice-chair, and Dallan Oberg - treasurer.
Also on the executive is the Battlefords Chamber’s Chief Operating Officer, Linda Machniak. A member-at-large position is still to be filled representing the board, and that will be voted on at the Chamber’s AGM in February.
The board also ratified the results of the recent nomination process, with 10 open positions on the board being filled by acclamation without an election.
Filling the open two-year term positions are Ashlee Babiy - CIBC; Tracy Benson - BATC; Tisha Carriere - Gold Eagle Lodge; Pamela Connor - Dynamic Appraisals; Terry Gagne - SaskTel; Cassandra Germsheid - Kerr’s Cleaners Inc.; Ron Kulcheski - Innovation Credit Union; Glenda Rye - North Battleford Luk Plumbing Heating and Electric Ltd.; and Jeremy Smith - The Smith’s Makeup Artistry and Photography. Filling the open one-year position is Harris Sutherland - Gold Eagle Casino.
Melanie Roberts was also appointed to an automatic one-year term on the board so she could serve as past chair.
In her closing remarks Roberts expressed pride at the work done while she has been involved in the Chamber.
“I think we had a fantastic few years, even with COVID,” said Roberts. “It’s been very challenging for businesses, it’s been challenging for the Chamber, but I think we’ve got a lot of things accomplished.”
She cited such things as national accreditation as well as the distribution of COVID-19 rapid tests. One of the initiatives she was most passionate about was Shop Local.
“Shop Local is near and dear to my heart, it doesn’t matter where I live, I try and do as much as I can here,” said Roberts.
She said the Shop Local campaign was “a great way to promote our members and promote our community.”
The agenda at next week’s Chair’s Banquet will include release of the economic report on the “Economic Impact of Shopping Local on the North Battleford Regional Economy,” and unveiling of the rebrand of the Battlefords Chamber logo. The Chamber’s national Accreditation Certificate will also be presented.
It was also confirmed at Tuesday’s meeting that the Chamber will switch to the noon hour for monthly meetings of the board starting in February. The board had been holding their monthly meetings on Tuesday evenings up until now.
