New Chamber employee ready to move forward promoting Chamber programs

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Melinda Northcott, the Morinville and District Chamber of Commerce’s Office Administrator / Even Coordinator, poses with Chamber President Simon Boersma outside the Chamber office. Northcott will assist with office duties, sell Chamber memberships and oversee the planning of the Chamber’s three major projects. – Stephen Dafoe Photo

by Stephen Dafoe

Morinville – The Morinville and District Chamber of Commerce (MDCC) has hired a new Office Administrator / Even Coordinator. Melinda Northcott took on the post just prior to this year’s trade show after working in banking with Scotia Bank for the past six years. Northcott’s role will be to assist with office duties, sell Chamber memberships and oversee the planning of the Chamber’s three major projects: the annual Leap into Spring Expo, the annual Business Awards Gala, and the annual Chamber Golf Tournament.

“It helps that I’ve been in this town and there are a lot of familiar faces,” Northcott said of the work ahead of her. “I’m excited to get out there. They’re going to be seeing me in a different aspect, but knowing people and knowing this town is going to make it easy.”

Northcott began taking event management courses through NAIT last year after giving birth to her daughter. She enjoyed the field and found the Chamber position to be a good fit for those interests.

The office administrator / event planner said she is excited about the opportunity to work with the Chamber because of her roots in the community. “I love it here and me and my husband have no plans on leaving this town,” Northcott said. “To be a part of it in any way means a lot to me.”

MDCC President Simon Boersma is also pleased to have Northcott on board. “I’m excited about Melinda because she does have the sales aspect and I think that is a big portion of it,” Boersma said. “The board obviously has quite a bit of work on other fronts and now we can have a coordinator that puts all those items that we, as a board, can’t deal with on a day-to-day basis back into the Chamber office.”

With the office position filled again, Boersma said the focus is on making sure Chamber members are being served. Northcott will be actively involved in selling members the variety of programs, packages and other offerings the Chamber has at its disposal. “The Alberta Chambers offers a myriad of programs,” Boersma said, adding the Alberta Chamber rep will be working with Northcott to ensure she is aware of what can be offered to MDCC members.

Beyond offering packages and promotions to members, Boersma said the board would now be able to focus on advocating for members once again.

“Throughout my tenure [as president] that’s one of the biggest things I’ve pushed, is the servitude attitude of the Chamber, that we understand who we are in the community,” Boersma said. “We have certain amount of stuff that we need to complete within our community, which is when there’s issues coming up … that we speak to those issues. We’re able to get back to that.”

The Chamber will also continue its tourism initiatives. Boersma said Maureen Sinclair would be taking a more active role on the Tourism side of what the Chamber does.

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