So it’s January already, and 2012 is upon us! I can’t believe it’s been two years already since I have taken on this role, time has flown by and we are now about to elect a new board and executive this month. My time as President has been a great adven-ture, the things I’ve learned and the people I have met being the high-lights of the last two years. We have grown the Chamber membership steadily the last number of years, and I hope that continues going forward. Our goal has been to provide our membership with lots of networking time, great guest speakers, and many educational opportunities throughout the year. Hundreds of our members have taken us up on these benefits and I can only see the opportunities continuing.

Earlier this month we had a very successful luncheon with our local MP Ted Menzies, Minister of State, (Finance). He is heading to Ottawa this spring for budget meetings and was very interested in meeting with some local business people to discuss some items that may be of interest to our members. It’s always educational meeting with our politi-cians to discuss our economic situa-tion and find out what they have been hearing from other parts of the country.

Our AGM is on January 18th at D’Arcy Ranch at 11:45 am. Our new Board of Directors, President and Vice-Presidents will be elected in at this time. I know most of our directors are return-ing, with a few exceptions, and we have some new members coming on board who are looking forward to being part of a dynamic team that is working hard to keep our members’ business interests front and centre in our community. This month is also the time your mem-berships are due, and if you renew prior to February1st, you receive the special early bird renewal rate. We once again have a member-ship coordinator working out of the Chamber office, so if anyone is interested in becoming a mem-ber, or wants more information about the benefits of being a member, call the office and Ann Jones would love to come and meet you and take care of the pa-perwork in your own office, at a time convenient to you!

February 8th is the annual Winter Walk day at the Centennial Arena. The last couple of years we have had challenges issued from banks to banks, from realtors to realtors, and amongst our own directors to see who can walk the most dis-tance over the course of the day. We are issuing a challenge once again to our directors to see how many miles we can get out of our board! Hopefully everyone takes 15 or 20 minutes or their lunch hour to go to the arena and walk the track for a while! Lace up your shoes and join us there!

Our annual Trade and Lifestyle Show is coming up in April again this year, and requests for booths are coming in to the office daily. If you are interested, give Carol or Susan a call soon. We are making some changes that will come into effect in 2013, at which time our members will be able to book their booths ahead of anyone who is not a member, even if they were in the show the previous year. This will be a huge member benefit as the prime locations always go quickly, and many people like to keep the same booth year to year. Another reason to join the Chamber!

Your next newsletters will be coming from a new President, and I know things will con-tinue to roll along very much the way they have been. I’ll now be the Past-President and will still continue to be active in the Chamber, helping out wherever I may be needed. Huge thanks go out to our board and the other executives for all their hard work this past year, and not enough can be said about how hard Carol and Susan work in the office and make all of us volunteers look good! Keep up all the fantastic work you guys, and thanks for all you do!

Bev Carlson
President
Okotoks and District Chamber of Commerce