The Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce is celebrating.
In addition to hosting a well-received Alberta Chambers of Commerce annual general meeting, the Drumheller Chamber was recognized as one of the best such organizations in the province.
“Everything went really well. The delegates had nothing but good things to say about the conference and Drumheller. We were up for a Chamber of the Year Award and we won that as well,” said John Shoff, president of the Drumheller Chamber.
The Drumheller Chamber was nominated for the Alberta Chamber of the Year Award in the under 300 members category.
The services the Drumheller Chamber provides for members and their substantial record of giving back to the community were instrumental in winning the award.
“We’ve integrated new web and social media campaigns, back to the roots policy of trying to provide more services for members, Small Business Week Awards, which promotes businesses throughout the year. They also mentioned we run the World’s Largest Dinosaur and gift shop and give back to the community through them,” said Shoff.
John Shoff (left), president of the Drumheller Chamber, and Ed Mah, past president, were all smiles this weekend. The Drumheller and District Chamber of Commerce was awarded as the Alberta Chamber of the Year in the under 300 members category.
The Drumheller Chamber had been awarded twice before in 1980 and 1990. The Vulcan and Medicine Hat Chambers were awarded to the under 100 members and over 300 members categories, respectively.
The three day conference got off to a rainy start on Thursday. The annual Drumheller Chamber golf tournament was cancelled due to rain and has been rescheduled for late August or early September.
Things got back on track the next day for the education sessions at the Badlands Community Facility, and tours of Drumheller. The delegates were then treated to some of Drumheller’s most colourful historical characters at an Evening at Fanny’s.
“Everyone was raving about the awesome job all the volunteers did,” said Shoff. “People were coming up to me and saying it was the best chamber conference they had been to.”
On Saturday, members turned to more serious matters for the annual policy session.
“The policy session had some pretty good debates going on there. One of the big things we talked about was the advocacy of additional fees, called affinity fees, on credit cards. That was a pretty hot topic,” said Shoff.
The Drumheller Chamber is proud of how the meeting went and is hoping this won’t be the last time the provincial meeting is held here. There has also been some thought on trying to bring the Canadian Chambers of Commerce meeting to Drumheller.
“We talked about it. We’d like to try to get them. It’s a much bigger event in terms of people, so I think we need a facility that can hold 500 seats,” said Shoff. “It’s definitely on the table. It would be a huge one for Drumheller.”