Chamber meeting talks about the return of trade show and regional growth

by Stephen Dafoe

It was a light turnout at the Morinville & District Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon Wednesday afternoon due to the temperatures. The speaker, Dale Schaub from Business Link who was scheduled to speak on business research, did not attend, but Chamber board members stepped up to make the event worthwhile.

The big news for the day was that the Chamber was bringing back their Trade Show this year and planning to hold it in the new recreation centre, set to open in May of this year.

“I think it’ll be fantastic for Morinville and Sturgeon County,” Thompson said.

Board member Pat Tighe offered an update on Monday’s announcement of a $4.5 billion petrochemical plant in Sturgeon County.

“That’s going to be extremely advantageous for this region,” Tighe said. “It’s going to bring more hydrocarbon processing to the region and helps with the Alberta Industrial Heartland, and the spinoffs from that should be very advantageous for us.”

Tighe went on to say the Villeneuve Airport is looking to expand and that Synergy Aviation are looking to start helicopter tours in the area.

“Being that they are in our backyard, I think that could be a real advantage if we reached out to them and get them to come to one of our chamber meetings,” Tighe said. “There could be great things happening creating a new tourism market.”

Chamber board member Mark Stevens told members that the Chamber had recently set up an advocacy committee of four members that were ready to advocate to all levels of government.

“The idea behind this committee is to try and hear any issues that local businesses have with anything related to government,” Stevens said, adding the committee would then try to put a resolution together and advocate on the business’ behalf.

The next Chamber luncheon is scheduled for Wednesday, Mar. 6 at 11:30 p.m. at the Morinville Community Cultural Centre.

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