Thank you for supporting the Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce! This WEEKLY email highlights information and updates from our Chamber, the Alberta and Canadian Chambers of Commerce, and our municipal, provincial, and federal government partners.
Be sure to watch for our weekly Chamber Member Connections newsletter on Thursdays featuring sales, promotions, accomplishments, events, and general awareness of our membership. Email tom@gpchamber.com for info.
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CHAMBER AGM AND AWARDS presented by CANWEST
The Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting and Awards presented by Canwest is held annually on the first Thursday of December. The meeting is open to all Chamber Members and includes a review of our activities over the past year as well as the election of our new Board of Directors, and the presentation of our Chamber Awards.
The 2020 Chamber AGM and Awards presented by Canwest is scheduled for Thursday, December 3. The meeting will include a review of our activities in 2020 and election of our 2021 Board of Directors.
There is no cost to attend the event but a reminder that each Member business is limited to one vote. The agenda will include election of directors to the Board; 2020 Membership, Advocacy, Chair, and CEO reports; and our Chamber Awards. All attendees will receive a Zoom link to access the meeting. TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE.
* If you are interested in running for the Board:
Contact the Chamber Office to request a Board Nomination Package:
Completed board nomination forms must be received by the Chamber office prior to 12:00 PM on Friday, November 20 to be considered by the Board Nomination Committee.
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The Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce invites you to a Ribbon Cutting for Calabria Deli & Bistro on Thursday, November 12.
The location is 11601 - 99 Street in the Prairie Plaza. Calabria Deli & Bistro is celebrating its 1-year anniversary!
After the Chamber Ribbon Cutting at 11:00 AM, Calabria will be open until 7:00 PM featuring 10% off store-wide and your favourite Italian desserts on display.
Don Arturo will have two European gift baskets to give away, and one lucky winner will receive a $25 gift certificate.
Dine in, take out, delivery, enjoy the music, soccer game and atmosphere, and MANGIA BENE!
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GetintheLoop is the fastest growing Franchise in Canada and has the largest network of local merchant offers in the Country; a professional platform serving hundreds of thousands of members, all while empowering small business owners with simple and affordable tools to make their local marketing efforts easier and more effective.
Our Chamber was awarded an Economic Recovery Grant from the City of Grande Prairie, and thanks to the City's generosity we are offering the remainder of 2020 FREE for all businesses in our area to become partners and test drive the platform as a part of your recovery efforts and experience firsthand how it can work for you. Chamber Members will receive preferred pricing on the monthly subscription rate beginning in January 2021. Join as a partner and start creating your offers now! https://www.grandeprairiechamber.com/getintheloop/
We encourage everyone to download the free app to start accessing our offers on GetintheLoop and we look forward to working with our Member businesses who will benefit from this platform.
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We invite businesses to a Q+A about the face covering bylaw TONIGHT Tuesday, November 10 at 6:30pm. The session will cover what is required as a business owner under the new bylaw and is an opportunity to share learnings and best practices. We will have an external HR consultant, and City staff from Health and Safety, Enforcement, and Economic Development on hand to get you the answers and support you’re looking for.
Only 30 seats are available for each session to ensure time to answer questions. We request that you limit one registration for each business to accommodate as many as possible.
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You asked and we listened! The County of Grande Prairie Business Support Network (BSN) is excited to launch the Blue Pin – Customer Service Excellence certification program for Managers and Front-Line Workers.
In an effort to ensure the training covers Employers’ needs, we wanted to get your input into the course offerings. At this time, we have two streams – Management and Front Line Worker.
For Blue Pin Certification, Managers will be required to compete 5 Core Courses and 3 Options; Front Line Workers would complete 3 Core Courses and 3 Options. A couple of exclusive offerings will also be available once or twice throughout the year to elevate our Customer Service brand in the region.
We have created a survey to find out more about your needs so we can cater our program for you.
Follow this link to tell us more.
Follow the County of Grande Prairie Business Support Network to watch for upcoming events and register on our Eventbrite page.
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Sharing - Weekly Economic Briefings and NW Regional Connector
Please read the information and links below from Kamie Currie, our local Regional Economic Development Specialist with the Tourism and Economic Development Department of the Alberta Government. There is valuable information on grants, projects, investment, resources and supports.
Weekly Economic Briefings:
Other information:
NEWS RELEASES:
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Alberta’s Investment and Growth Strategy (IGS) is a $75-million initiative led by the Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Innovation. The IGS builds on Alberta’s existing strengths – including energy, tourism and agriculture – as well as emerging sectors like technology in order to create jobs and jump-start Alberta’s economic recovery.
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Alberta AgTech companies are invited to join a free Alberta Agriculture and Forestry hosted webinar on November 19, 2020 from 1:00pm – 2:00pm (MST). IBG Global representatives will share in-market insights and Ag specific opportunities for Alberta exporters. About this Event:
• Overview of the Ag market in:
• Ag-Tech Developments that will recreate the industry
• How Ag-Tech is addressing climate change issues
• Specific Ag opportunities for Alberta exporters
• Future trends in Ag over the next five years
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Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program
The Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program (APIP), part of Alberta’s Recovery Plan, will help attract billions in petrochemical project investments and continue to diversify the province’s economy while drawing directly on our abundant reserves of natural gas. The goal is to aggressively compete with several jurisdictions across Asia, the Middle East, and those in the Gulf of Mexico in the United States, many of which also offer similar incentives for petrochemical manufacturers, to become a global destination for petrochemical investment.
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Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant (SMERG) – is still open for applications
This provincial grant offers financial assistance to Alberta businesses, cooperatives, and non-profit organizations that were ordered to close or curtail operation, and that experienced a revenue reduction of at least 50%, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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· Energy Efficiency Alberta is currently providing support for municipalities to design and implement competitive, long-term financing options for local residential and commercial property owners to cover up to 100% of energy efficiency project costs through the Clean Energy Improvement Program (CEIP). Check out https://mccac.ca/programs/clean-energy-improvement-program/ for further details.
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UP TO $55 MILLION IN FUNDING FOR ALBERTA BUSINESSES TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY AND REDUCE EMISSIONS
Emissions Reduction Alberta’s new Energy Savings for Business Program—a funding opportunity to support small- and medium-scale industrial and commercial businesses—is awarding up to $55 million for cost-saving and emissions reducing projects. The program will help Alberta businesses reduce emissions, decrease operating costs, grow their operations and become more competitive, while creating skilled jobs and boosting economic recovery.
The projects are anticipated to account for lifetime greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions of 1.1 million tonnes of CO₂, create about 1,400 (direct and indirect) jobs and drive $300 million in economic activity—providing a positive five times benefit to Alberta’s GDP.
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You're invited: Meeting with Advanced Education Minister
The Alberta Chambers of Commerce will host a virtual meeting for chambers and chamber members with Alberta's Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides on Wednesday, November 18.
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More hands-on learning opportunities for students
Alberta is helping students gain world-class research skills and driving innovation by supporting more than 3,800 new internships. In partnership with Mitacs, post-secondary institutions and employers, Alberta’s government is growing internship opportunities to build hands-on learning opportunities for students, researchers and industry partners.
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Improving safety for workers and cutting red tape
The proposed Bill 47, Ensuring Safety and Cutting Red Tape Act, 2020, will make workplace safety laws easier to understand and create a more sustainable workers’ compensation system to support Albertans now and into the future.
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Petrochemical program is open for business
A new program to turn Alberta into a top global producer of petrochemicals is launching with an aggressive industry-driven strategy to spur long-term international investment and thousands of jobs to the province.
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Other Government of Alberta news
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Minister Ng announces new measures to help Canadian small businesses access global markets amid COVID-19
The Government of Canada launched the CanExport SMEs program—delivered through the Trade Commissioner Service—in 2016. As an investment totalling $190 million, this program has helped thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs break into new international markets with funding of up to $75,000 to cover travel costs and other expenses.
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Government of Canada announces over $100M to spur job creation in Alberta and fight climate change
The Government of Canada announced approximately $100 million from the Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund to support initiatives in Alberta aimed at growing the clean economy. As a direct result of this funding, approximately 3,100 jobs will be created in the areas of construction, energy efficiency retrofits, clean technology innovation, industrial transformation and research.
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Government of Canada announces plan to support economic recovery through immigration
The Government of Canada tabled the 2021‒2023 Immigration Levels Plan, which sets out a path for responsible increases to immigration targets to help the Canadian economy recover from COVID-19, drive future growth and create jobs for middle class Canadians.
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Other Government of Canada news
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CCC Webinar: The Role Of Technology For Business Transformation In A Post-Covid Economy (November 12)
The role of a strong network and next generation technology for business recovery and optimization in a post-covid economy. Fortunately, Canadian telecom has been investing for years, and the dawn of 5G could not have come at a more important time.
This conversation with Navin Arora, President Business Solutions at TELUS and Pau Castells, Director of Economic Analysis at GSMA, will examine how 5G will revolutionize and transform business operations and influence customer revenues, improve productivity and operational expenses for businesses as well as safety and security, and discuss how investment in this next generation technology will drive $150 billion to the Canadian economy over the next 20 years.
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EDC webinar: How Canadian companies can navigate "business as usual" (November 18)
Find out how your company can manage risk and stay the course during these challenging times with this free webinar.
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Women's Entrepreneurship Day 2020 (November 29-20)
Join business women from all over the world to celebrate Women Entrepreneur's Day on November 19th. The Alberta division of the global Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Organization is excited to be hosting an innovative VIRTUAL CONFERENCE.
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Canadian Chamber of Commerce Executive Summit Series
The Executive Summit Series brings together senior executives and thought leaders for a dialogue on top issues affecting Canadian business.
The Western event, taking place on November 24, will feature the Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, President of the Treasury Board, and panel discussions surrounding Canadian transportation and trade.
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Email info@gpchamber.com|Phone 780-532-5340 | Fax 780-532-2926
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