Why Join The Chamber?

• That the recent economic downturn offers signi?cant growth opportunities for family vacation and outdoor recreational destinations in close proximity to larger centers – like the serene lake country of the Pigeon Lake Region.

That ‘a day at the lake is worth a month in town’ and visitors have
the opportunity to escape from the pressures of city living,
recharge their batteries and create priceless family memories in the
Pigeon Lake Region.

That the Pigeon Lake Region’s close proximity to larger centers has
the potential to draw in countless new visitors for day visits,
weekend retreats and extended vacations, many of whom may
become our new neighbours.
•
That the Pigeon Lake Region is uniquely positioned to draw visitors
from one of the busiest north-south corridors in Western Canada, –
the QEII.
•
That all businesses (large and small) will bene?t from increased
tourist traffic in the Pigeon Lake Region. Whether in the front lines
of delivering tourism services or providing complementary or
support services to visitors, more customers can only be a good
thing. Even residential support services like plumbing, electrical,
building supplies and developers stand to bene?t from the positive
long term effect of increased tourist traffic – as many visitors
become new neighbours and chose to build or renovate.
•
That now, as the economy moves into a recovery phase, is the ideal
time to position local business for future opportunity and growth
from the tourism sector
•
That the old adage, “build it and they will come” is only part of the
equation for future business success. Public awareness and appeal
of the region’s many services and attractions must also be achieved
through branding and broad marketing and advertising campaigns
to complete the equation
•
That the Pigeon Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce is embarking
on a creative new marketing initiative in 2011 that will help
establish the Pigeon Lake Region as a vacation destination of
choice in Central Alberta – for Albertans and visitors from outside
the Province.
•
That now is the time to get in on the ground ?oor and join the
Pigeon Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce in becoming a partner
in various exciting new initiatives.
Why consider becoming part of the Pigeon Lake Regional
Chamber of Commerce?
As a business owner, these are a few of the reasons for joining and
maintaining active involvement with the Pigeon Lake Regional Chamber of
Commerce. We believe that you will ?nd these to be bene?cial to your
business.
1. Raising the profile of your business & what you do.
• Partnerships with Travel Alberta.
The Marketing Task Force for the
Pigeon Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce is working on developing
partnership and marketing plans with several key groups including Travel
Alberta, which will be pivotal in putting the Pigeon Lake Region on the
map as a vacation destination of choice in Central Alberta. We feel it is
essential for you and your colleagues to join forces with us while we are
at ground level, and come along as we move forward with this plan.
• Website exposure
. If you don’t already have your own website, this is
essential! How people ?nd us has changed, and having a picture of your
business along with a pro?le of what you do is paramount! When you join
the Chamber you will be able to submit a picture of your choice to
represent your business, along with a brief description of the services or
products you offer plus contact information, and have this posted on the
Pigeon Lake Chamber website. This website gets thousands of hits every
month (e.g. 15,000 website hits in July 2009 – one month’s exposure).
Internet exposure should be a priority for all businesses.
• Networking.
Meeting new people and businesses and sharing with them
aspects of what you do is a big part of what happens when you join a
Chamber of Commerce. This has become an essential part of growing
the pro?le of each member’s business. You know the old adage, “you tell
two people and they tell two people and so on and so on..”. Word of
mouth works and the Chamber helps to extend that word of mouth
concept. Be prepared to pro?le your business at a general meeting, once
you join, to start this process of networking.
• Marketing training
. We are currently working on initiatives to
bring Travel Alberta to our area, to conduct various marketing
workshops for our members. As a business owner, it can be
daunting if marketing is not your area of expertise. As a Chamber,
we are working to bring tools to our members to help us learn how
to grow our own businesses, and think outside the box.
2. Value added programs for your business
•
Being part of the Chamber allows you access to savings that, as a
small business, you may not otherwise have access to. Examples
are:
?
Group insurance
?
ATB Merchant discount rates
?
Payroll services through Payworks
?
Preferred rates on Visa, Mastercard & Interac
?
TD Merchant discount rates
?
Purolator discounts
?
Discount programs at Esso, Husky & Petro-Canada
3. Community Involvement
•
Be part of a vibrant organization that strives to promote & support
local businesses and thereby strengthen the economic health of
our community
•
Be part of an organization that helps young people by promoting
excellence in our schools. We offer ?nancial awards to students in
Buck Mountain Central School & Pigeon Lake High School for strong
academic achievement.
•
Be part of an organization that participates in fund-raisers for
worthwhile causes.
Contact information:
Pigeon Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce
#6 Village Drive, R.R. #2
Westerose, Alberta T0C 2V0
Phone: (780)586–6263
Fax: (780)586-3667
info@pigeonlakechamber.ca
Or, visit our websites at
www.pigeonlakechamber.ca
and
www.pigeonlake.com