On October 23rd, 2013 the Prince Albert & District Chamber of

Commerce celebrated Small Business Week by hosting a luncheon with

the BDC Chief Economist Pierre Cléroux.

Mr. Cléroux shared the Five game-

changing consumer trends with

those in attendance at the Ches

Leach Lounge.

If you are interested in reading

about these trends, please CLICK

HERE. For a short summary please

see pages 9 –13.

Business Progress

November 2013

Executive Officers

Chairman

Mike Mitchell

Tyrone Pest Control

First Vice Chairman

Larry Fladager

2nd Vice Chair

Shelley L. Cannon

Wilcox Zuk Chovin Law Office

Secretary/Treasurer

Gord Jahn

MNP

Board Appointed

George Vass

Prince Albert & District

Community Futures

Board Appointed

Jayne Remenda Prince Albert Tourism

Elected Board Members

Trevor Dutchak Parkland Ambulance

Darwin Zurakowski

Greg Breeze Affinity Insurance

Robert Bratvold

Sask. Rivers School Division

Bruce Vance P.A. Raider Hockey Club

Shayne Lazarowich Prince Albert Multicultural Council

Ian Litzenberger Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy

Meghan Mayer Salon Six

A Message from the CEO~ Merle Lacert

Hello Members

The Fall has been very busy, and the Chamber office has continued

efforts to bring our members various events & luncheons to assist in

gaining insights or assisting with networking opportunities.

The chamber has completed several efforts to advocate on behalf of

our members, some recent examples include: the release of our

taxation recommendations, continuing a strong focus on building and

maintaining relationships with various government representatives.

Other activities include engaging on various education related

initiatives to support building stronger educational models for both K

-12 and post secondary. Education is very important component for

growing our future labour force.

We will also be hosting our second round table discussion on Labour

on November 27th/2013. I encourage all interested members to

attend this free event. This round table on Labour will focus on both

challenges and solutions for recruitment, retention and training.

This November, we will also be hosting a WCB workshop and

luncheon, this event will provide several presentations which will

assist attendees in understanding the process for reporting injuries, as

well as many suggestions to assist in injury prevention. Although the

workshop event is full, I do encourage members to attend the free

luncheon to gain some of the key insights regarding injury

prevention.

The chamber has also completed various efforts to promote and

advise members and non members of who we are and what we do. A

important aspect of this is to have our members also promote or refer

new members to the chamber. I do encourage all members and non

members to visit our website for full information on what we are up

to as well as information on upcoming events.

The Chamber promotes our members through various methods

including: referrals, display of business profiles on our website, and

advertising. I would like to advise all members that a underutilized

option to promote your business is the display of your business cards

here at our chamber office. This service is offered free as part of your

membership, please drop by the chamber office and we would be

pleased to support your business further by displaying your business

cards.

As you may know the partnership between TD Merchant Services and the Canadian Chamber of

Commerce is coming to a end on December 1st/13. This change will mean that TD Merchant Services

will not accept any new clients after December 1st/2013. Members who currently use TD Merchant

services can continue to enjoy the same terms and conditions of their current contract.

Please note, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce along with the Provincial and Regional Chambers of Commerce are all collaborating together to find a

new host for the Chamber Merchant services plan. Given the volume that all the combined chambers can offer, we are confident that a new merchant

services host can be found that will offer our members not only excellent service, but also very competitive rates. Below is a excerpt from communications

that TD Merchant Services has sent to its members:

TD Merchant Services (TDMS) and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CCC) have been partners in providing preferred rates for payment processing to

Chamber members for more than 12 years. Through this joint program many new merchants have come to be both Chamber members and TDMS

customers. However, due to the increasing fragmentation of this program at the regional level, the CCC and TDMS have mutually decided not to pursue a

renewal of this agreement which is set to expire on December 1, 2013.

What does this mean for you?

New member merchants can continue to sign up for the TDMS program any time before December 1, 2013; however, no new merchants will be

eligible for the program after that date;

Each member’s individual Merchant Services Agreement with TDMS is not impacted and all the terms and conditions set out in each member’s MSA

continue to be in effect;

TDMS will not be making any immediate changes to the rates and fees that existing members are paying under this program; additionally, as a strong

supporter of the Code of Conduct for Debit and Credit Cards in Canada, TDMS is committed to provide you at least 90 days’ not ice of any future

changes to the terms and conditions of your agreement with us.

TDMS and the CCC will continue to explore ways to create new partnerships that may be of benefit and of service to the chamber network and

member companies of local chambers of commerce. TDMS remains open to working with individual chambers in the various regions across the

country where opportunities for mutually beneficial programs may exist.

http://business.princealbertchamber.com/events/details/legacy-brunch-33

To help celebrate Small Business Week the Chamber of

Commerce offered an opportunity for our members to

gather together for networking at the Prince Albert Golf

& Curling Club. Over the drop in period several

members took advantage of the opportunity.

As you may know, the recruitment and retention of labour for the region continues to be the top challenge for many businesses. On Sept 11/13, the Prince Albert & District Chamber of Commerce hosted Round Table discussions with the Federal Labour Minister – the Honorable Kellie Leitch.

We are planning to organize a second round table discussion to further discuss the specifics of the labour challenges, and look to identify solutions that could be contained in: Recruitment Efforts, Retention Strategies, and Training Needs for the Region. This event is free for our members to participate in.

We are planning this second round table discussion for Wednesday, November 27/2013, at the Prince Albert Inn.

Please plan to attend - to offer insights and contribute to the process to identify solutions and strategies that our region can utilize to improve our labour conditions.

Please RSVP to the Chamber office to secure your spot today. We will be asking participants to assist with a brief survey prior to the event, the insights gained or confirmed in the survey will assist us with a starting point from which to build.

Please contact the Chamber office with any questions or suggestions regarding this

round table.

November 22nd - Black Friday

November 25th - Cyber Monday

November 30th - Small Business Saturday

December 9th - Green Monday

December 18th - Free Shipping day

WHITROW

STOBBS

& ASSOCIATES

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144 12th St. East Prince Albert Phone: 306.764.2773

...ACCOUNTING...TAXATION...CORPORATE SERVICES...

Financial

Statements

Corporate Tax

Audits

Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors

As a proud member of the Prince Albert community, our team of chartered

accountants and business advisors continue to grow to meet your unique needs.

National in scope and local in focus, we take the time to understand your challenges

and deliver personalized solutions that help you achieve your goals. Our diverse

services include:

Assurance

Consulting

Corporate Finance

Corporate Recovery & Insolvency

Enterprise Risks

Investigative & Forensic Services

Succession

Tax & Specialty Tax

Valuation & Litigation Support

For more information contact a local MNP advisor at 306.764.6873

A & W

Accra Lock & Safe Co. Ltd

AOBDT Architects Ltd.

B & B Asphalt Ltd.

Bills Electric City

Broda Construction

BTR Financial Planing

Carlton Trail Hearing Clinic

City of Prince Albert

Dr. Allison Martin Medical Prof. Corp.

French Canadian Society

Gateway Mall

Hansen Real Estate

J.G.'s Collision Center

Lobstick Travel

Missinipi Broadcasting Co.

Northern Grocers

P.A. Shopper

Paintball Paradise

Prince Albert Alarm Systems

Prince Albert Gymnastics Club

Prince Albert Photocopier

Prince Albert Source for Sports

Purified Water Store

Right At Home ReDesigns

Rod Elliot Financial Services

SaskPower

Saskatchewan Research Council

Small World Daycare Coop

Super 8 Motel

The Sign Shack

Westar Services

The Chambers of Commerce Group Insurance

Plan is the #1 plan in Canada!

For employee benefits, covering over 25,000

small businesses across the country.

ALL types of businesses are eligible for the

program - no industry exclusions!

Call 306-922-4414 to find out!

Prince Albert & District Chamber of Commerce

3700—2nd Avenue West

Prince Albert, SK S6W 1A2

306.764.6222 ph

306.922.4727 fax

www.princealbertchamber.com