The Athabasca District Chamber of Commerce got a solid start to the New Year at their Annual General Meeting, upping the performance of early last year when they had a tough time even finding a president.
Elsa’s Banquet Room was a packed house with nearly 50 people last Tuesday, as members of the chamber came together to make some decisions and set the tone for the coming year.
First up was a recap of 2011, given by President Nigel Satchwell. Highlights included ongoing efforts with ‘like-minded’ groups, such as the Alberta Energy Corridor, and good event turnouts for two parades, Moonlight Madness and the Fly-In Barbecue.
“Overall it was a good year and today is very rewarding,” he said. “Considering we started the year off with no president.”
At last year’s first AGM, no member stepped up to be nominated for president, forcing the group to adjourn the meeting and reopen it at a later date to vote on the president.
After recapping last year, the chamber voted on its executive for next year, with Satchwell once again getting the nod to head up their efforts.
The vote led to the incoming president’s speech on what he hopes the New Year will bring.
“The most powerful thing in the world is an idea,” Satchwell said, hoping to encourage members to take a broader look at how to encourage businesses to locate and grow in the area.
He pointed to two efforts; supporting tourism to bring more people to the region and recognizing the strengths that Athabasca has to offer.
The notion of broad ideas was reinforced by the two speakers brought in for the evening, Dr. Frits Pannekoek, president of Athabasca University, and Henk ten Wolde, the Netherlands Trade Commissioner to Alberta.
Pannekoek’s presentation centred around “The Project,” a proposed $39 million riverside facility that would bring together all the scientific information related to the 1,231 kilometer Athabasca River basin, its surrounding regions, as well as the people and cultures it has played host to.
An effort to strengthen the community of Athabasca’s voice in the ongoing debate between industry and environmental groups, the project would serve as a place for neutral discussion and engagement with all communities along the river basin.
To build the facility though, they need the money, he said to the audience, adding that once they do get it, they could start construction within six months.
“We’re at the beginning of a voyage, and I hope we can get something sooner rather than later,” he said.
Next up was Henk ten Wolde, Holland’s trade representative in Alberta.
Ten Wolde, who has been trade commissioner since 2008, said Alberta might have a lot to learn from the experiences of a country with four times the population, yet one-fifteenth the size of our province.
He cited their cutting edge work with water, as a majority of the country is under sea level, and their place as one of the largest importer and exporter in Europe.
“We are pioneers in international business,” he said between airing promotional videos on the country.
He pointed to Alberta’s lack of adding value to products, instead opting to ship out raw material and let other countries do that labour. He said the province could learn from Holland’s place as the world’s second largest food exporter.
He concluded by saying that the world is facing large challenges with climate change, population growth and water quality, and that the Netherlands is an example of leadership in adapting to those changes.
