The Battlefords Chamber of Commerce wrapped up their series of educational events on a profitable note.
The recent Donald Cooper event at Gold Ridge Centre Oct. 20 turned a $6,000 profit, reported director Paul Sayers and Executive Director Linda Machniak at the board of director's meeting Tuesday night.
The Eric Anderson event on food and energy, hosted by the Chamber at the Chapel Gallery Sept. 27, was well attended and also resulted in a surplus.
Widely credited for the success of the events financially was sponsorships.
North West Enterprise Region had come through with matching funding for costs of the Cooper event earlier this year.
The two events wrap up a five-year commitment by the Chamber of Commerce to education and professional development for its members. The events staged by the Chamber in the community the past few years included two by the Florida-based Disney Institute, an appearance by Barbara Glanz last year, as well as an ongoing series of speakers on nuclear power.
Financially, the events have been hit and miss. The first Disney event proved a financial windfall for the Chamber, but on the flip side they ended up in a money hole from the nuclear power series in 2009.
The two most recent educational events ended the series on a positive note financially, but regardless of the financial results it was noted by directors the real benefit was providing local business people an opportunity to access first-rate speakers and world-class training that otherwise would have been out of reach.
The Cooper event was seen as successful all around, with Cooper receiving rave reviews from participants. One director described him as "dynamic" and it was reported many of his marketing strategies and ideas are being adopted and put into practice in local businesses.
There was also widely positive feedback on the Anderson event - though the event didn't please everyone. It was reported one attendee voiced vocal dissatisfaction with what Anderson presented.
The question about what is next for the Chamber now their five-year commitment on education has ended was discussed.
It is possible the Chamber may take a break from staging large-scale speakers events and focus on other priorities, at least for a short time, but directors also talked of holding smaller or less-frequent events such as one every couple of years.
