The Morden Chamber of Commerce marked a year of progress at its annual meeting last week.
The organization is making great strides in supporting and advocating for the local business community, suggested chairperson Tyler Schroeder.
“The Morden Chamber of Commerce is in a great position to make a difference within our community. We’re in one of the fastest growing regions in Canada, and with that comes opportunity,” Schroeder said in his address last Thursday. “There’s a lot to get excited about here in the City of Morden.”
Schroeder emphasized the four core pillars of the chamber to be a voice of business, be a source of information, to promote networking and promote local business.
In early 2023, the chamber drafted a new three year strategic plan to further the organization in meeting those objectives, he noted.
“We activated and empowered several committees in 2023 to provide additional focus and horsepower to act upon our strategic plan and core pillars,” said Schroeder. “Each of the following committees has a new mandate, responsibilities, timeline and authorities to act upon designated items from within our strategic plan – advocacy and governance committee, member services committee, networking, events and promotions committee and our executive committee.
“At this pace, we’re well on track to accomplish the key deliverables within our strategic plan over the next couple of years,” he continued. “If we’re able to add more capacity into our organization, then we’ll have the opportunity to be even more ambitious, and we’d really like to be more ambitious.”
The chamber saw revenues boosted in the past year with an increase in fundraising and special events, although the corresponding increase in related expenditures also contributed in the end to a minor deficit of just over $2,700.
Schroeder also touched on a number of other highlights including the fact the chamber hosted or co-hosted 24 events in the past year. For 2024, there were already 14 events on the schedule with more in the works.
It was a year of growth as well with 243 members with a goal of a net increase of two per cent each year.
“We’re currently adding two to four new members each month,” Schroeder noted.
In co-operation with the Winkler chamber, they also co-hosted an economic development tour of sites in the two cities, and Schroeder also highlighted meeting with the provincial finance minister “to advocate for urgent and aggressive infrastructure funding to ensure that our region continues to be a strong economic engine for the province of Manitoba.”
In addition to all of that, there was also a review of their bylaws and policies while establishing their new office, turning over the farmers market to Many Hands Resource Centre and starting work on revamping the chamber website.
Schroeder also emphasized the importance of the involvement of the community and the chamber members especially.
“It means that we need your help,” he said. “Share your ideas with us on how we can work together to create a more vibrant business community … engage with us and show us how we can be better, how we can do better and how we can work together to grow our business community.”
The annual meeting also saw the election of the chamber directors for the year ahead. In addition to those who are continuing mid-term, elected for two year terms were Brent Laverty of Crocus Real Estate, Susan Lee of Checker Signs, Derek Hamilton, of BDO Canada, Mariyam Tsygankova of Many Hands Resource Centre, Connie Pauls, of Decor Cabinets and Leah Olson of Morden Nurseries and Garden Centre.
