The Drumheller & District Chamber of Commerce, operators of the Wolrd's Largest Dinosaur,
estimate over $540,000 has been distributed to local groups through the WLD Legacy Fund since its start.
The Drumheller & District Chamber of Commerce is bringing back a business trade show to Drumheller this April.
That’s one of the highlights for 2015 the chamber is working on, said Executive Director Heather Bitz.
Bitz attended the regular meeting of Drumheller Town Council Monday, December 15, with a delegation from the Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber delegation attended Council to provide an update on what they’ve been working on in 2014, noting some of their achievements for the year, and providing Council with a quick glimpse into what it is working on for 2015.
“The other important thing the Chamber is really trying to get working harder and continue in the movement of advocacy,” said Bitz.
The chamber formed a new advocacy committee earlier this year that will work on and promote the issues that local businesses face, such as changes to the federal Temporary Foreign Workers Program, on a provincial and national level, in addition to championing the issues to the areas municipal governments.
“Certainly we want to try and fairly represent the business community as a whole - largely who we’re hearing from is our chamber members,” said Bitz.
The Drumheller & District Chamber of Commerce had 239 members as of December 15, gaining 27 new members this year.
The chamber is focused on strong priorities it lists for 2015:
relationship building with the community and local businesses: acting as advocates on behalf of its members; ensuring two-way communication exists between Drumheller’s Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Drumheller; and maintaining strong, stable revenue sources and a sound financial base.
One stable source of revenue is contracts with the Government of Alberta the Chamber has had for 11 years now. The chamber provides labour services for a number of different areas of the Royal Tyrrell Museum for an administration fee.
Another source of funding has been from the Town of Drumheller. The Town has an annual agreement to provide the Chamber with funds to assist with operating expenses for running the local visitor information centre at the bottom of the World’s Largest Dinosaur.
Since 2009, the funding from the Town has remained unchanged at $42,500. The Chamber is hoping the Town is able to provide an increase of that amount in 2015, to assist with paying its operating costs of an estimated $130,775 yearly.
Bitz said she is looking forward to another year for the chamber.
“Something new is always coming down the pipe.”
The chamber’s trade show is scheduled for April 17 to 19 at Greentree Mall, and the chamber expects to release vendor packages sometime in January.