A committee has been struck to further explore the possibility of resurrecting a chamber of commerce to advocate on behalf of businesses in the Westlock region.
Two dozen representatives from various businesses attended the initial Jan. 24 exploratory meeting at the Westlock Ramada, which was held to gauge the interest of the business community in getting the organization off the ground again.
Organizer Nicolas Brown said he wouldn’t consider the meeting a “wild success,” but was pleased with the initial turnout and the fact that a six-person committee was formed.
“We were successful in that we’re moving forward with a committee and so depending on how the committee comes together in the next few weeks we’ll be moving forward and trying to get some more official buy-in from local businesses,” said Brown.
The responsibilities of each committee member have yet to be determined as they haven’t had a chance to get together since the initial Jan. 24 meeting, but the gears are moving.
“There’s certainly an interest for collaboration in the region,” said Brown, who noted a member of the Morinville Chamber of Commerce was also on hand to provide any advice or encouragement she could to help the local chamber get off the ground.
Brown said he was under the impression, from his research, that he would need cooperation from the Morinville chamber as Westlock is in its area, but that is not actually the case.
Town councillors Clem Fagnan and David Truckey were in attendance as representatives of their respective businesses, but representatives from Westlock County and Village of Clyde did not attend.
Brown said he has received great feedback from the town, though he’s careful not to put any words in their mouths.
“There’s definitely interest from the town ... They want this to take off because it gives them another resource to find out what the desires of the business community are,” said Brown.
