Taking the Time to Reflect

The Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce has been fuelling the business community since being founded in 1900. We are certain that over this journey there have been many hurdles to overcome and many points of reflection along the way.

This past year has allowed us to reflect on our priorities before diving into future endeavours. We realized this was a common theme throughout the year; stop, reflect, and re-evaluate before going ahead. We reflected on our mission to be an essential source of information and solutions to strengthen our community as a catalyst for growth, uniting business, driving leadership, and fuelling success through our connections, support and influence and are evaluating what we need to integrate into the future to continue to build on this mission.

The last couple of years have posed challenges to many businesses and organizations, and the Chamber was no different. We recovered from the pandemic due to solid financial footing. Amidst the challenges, the organization's strength allowed us to overcome many obstacles. As a Board, we are thankful for the solid foundation the Chamber has established, giving us time to recover, reflect and work toward future growth.

One of the highlights of this past year was reflecting on the strength of our team, and building a strong reputation in our community, province and across the country. We have reflected on our ability to adapt and respond to change quickly, recognizing we have an ambitious team.

We are continuing along our journey to address key challenges of raising awareness about all the work we do, refining how we better determine what our members need, want, and value, and ensuring the organization increases its relevancy for the future.

We know our strengths lie in our connections with our members and Government and our ability to lead and be a convenor of people and ideas. However, we also know that to continue growing our strengths, we must build our capacity, relationships, and deeper connections with our members and community.

We must be agile and adaptable, essential in a growing amidst political and societal shifts, rapidly changing technology and workforce trends, and constantly shifting priorities.

We have identified opportunities in building our brand and clarifying our value, being much more service-focused, putting our time where it provides the highest return on investment for our members and the organization, and communicating the value to increase member engagement and retention. We look forward to working with our municipal leaders to maximize our economy for growth, success, and sustainability, and we seek to continue building and strengthening partnerships and collaboration.

We have refreshed and added value to our membership structure, we have built our connections with our Downtown Collective and Redcliff Collective, along with our Committees, we have enhanced the technology we use, we have updated policies and processes, we have gained strength in the people we have recruited to our team, and we took some risks, as we continue to build upon the legacy of the Chamber. It was a year to ensure our foundation was solid with the right people, planning and processes in place.

With that work started, and with our strategic reflection and planning, we were able to approve a new vision leading us into this new year.

We encourage each of you to take time to reflect; make changes and join us nurturing a culture where collaboration thrives, and every member of our community is invested in our collective growth. We want you to be part of our movement to influence the region's growth, drive momentum, excitement, and progress, infusing vibrancy and energy into every facet of our community. We are committed to being progressive and forward-thinking, fostering a welcoming and inviting atmosphere that celebrates inclusivity, diversity, and a sense of belonging. While the past hold a story and legacy of what we've accomplished and overcome, the future is wide open for us to create!