(Southeast Alberta) On November 17, 2023, the Brooks & District Chamber of Commerce held a special meeting of its members to seek approval from its membership to move forward with a new vision for the future.

In light of challenging times and fiscal restraints, the Brooks & District Chamber approved the dissolution of its Chamber. The decision was made with the goal of having the Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce expand its boundaries and rebrand as the Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce.

The Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce will bring a resolution to their members at the Chamber’s Annual General Meeting on November 30 to consider the change in boundaries and the change of name to be more regional in focus. The new Chamber would continue to operate in its existing boundaries of Medicine Hat, Cypress County and the Town of Redcliff, expanding its scope to serve the Brooks and County of Newell region and seeking to employ an individual from Brooks to serve the members in those regions along with fulfilling key event priorities.

Chip Cheny, Brooks & District President, stated, “We look forward to working with the Board and staff of the Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce as we navigate these transitions and to ensure it’s a smooth process for our members. One of our key priorities is to ensure safeguards are in place to continue to have our voice represented in our region”.

Trevor Anhel, President of the Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce, remarked, “We are grateful for the trust that the Brooks & District Chamber of Commerce has placed in our organization and the strength of our team to work through these transitions. We want to ensure there is Board representation from Brooks, in addition to working towards having someone from Brooks serve that region and their membership as part of Southeast Alberta”.

Once the resolutions for the change of boundaries and change of name are voted on by the Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce members, the certified copies of the resolutions by both Chambers need to be submitted to Corporations Canada for approval. The name changes and any other updates to documents and branding would be completed upon approval by Corporations Canada.

“We want to ensure that businesses across the region are supported through the services that a Chamber of Commerce provides. We also welcome any businesses that have questions to reach out to us”, stated Lisa Dressler, Executive Director of the Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce. “We know that businesses and organizations have managed through difficult times in the last few years, and many of the concerns with our businesses are no different than those in the Brooks and Newell region. We know we can work together to build the strength and connections of our network and to encourage the cross-collaboration of businesses within the region as we strengthen our advocacy, connections and support.”.

Please direct all media inquiries to:

Chip Cheny, President, Brooks & District Chamber of Commerce

Trevor Anhel, President, Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce

c/o Lisa Dressler, Executive Director, Medicine Hat & District Chamber of Commerce

(403) 527-5214 ext.222

info@medicinehatchamber.com

The Chamber of Commerce is a grassroots not-for-profit business network built by business for business. For more than 120 years, the Medicine Hat & District Chamber has been a champion for business and an essential source of information and solutions, helping build the businesses that support our families and our communities. 

Since 1791 the Brooks Chamber of Commerce has served the business community as a volunteer, member-driven organization, providing leadership, training, advocacy while providing you with the resources to grow your businesses in our region.

Chambers exists to serve the needs of businesses in our region, strengthening our community as a catalyst for growth, uniting business, driving leadership and fuelling success through our connections, support and influence.

These two Chambers represent over 1000 businesses in our region and are aligned with both the Alberta Chambers of Commerce (ACC), which represents over 24,000 businesses and the Canadian Chambers of Commerce (CCC), which represents over 200,000 businesses. With the largest and most influential business organizations locally, provincially and federally, the Chamber network is the most unified, valued and influential business network in Canada and works together to shape policy and programs that will make a difference to businesses in our region.