In front of a room filled with Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce members, a smiling face took to the podium.
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Robbie Kaschl accepted the gavel, taking over as chamber president from outgoing president Jackie Tomayer, ready for his year at the helm after serving as vice-president the previous year.
In an interview with the Meridian Source after the March 25 Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce AGM wrapped up, Kaschl says he wanted to make a difference taking on the executive role.
Christian Apostolovski – Meridian Source
“Initially, it was just a challenge of stepping up instead of complaining about issues, trying to help support it,” said Kaschl.
He says he became passionate about his work with the chamber.
“Then, the passion, you just fall into it,” he said. “You work through the chamber organization for a year or two and then you see where you can help.”
Moving into the presidency, he knew it was his opportunity to be there for Lloydminster.
“It was just helping that serving feeling, or the serving mentality of, I’ve served my family, served my business, and now I felt like I can serve the community,” said Kaschl.
Looking forward to the year ahead, he wants to bring more prominence to the chamber and what can offer.
“It’s wanting to bring the chamber as more of a focal point for new businesses coming to the community, (giving) existing businesses a place where they can gather and strategize and bring up partnerships and communicate with other businesses and organizations,” he said.
Kaschl has been a member of the chamber for more than a decade and says there’s a lot of value from attending the organization’s various mixers.
“I joined an organization 15 years ago with the business, but I never joined the process and what that organization does,” he explained. “There’s so much value I’m getting from, and hopefully giving to these connects and all these different events the chamber puts on.
“I hope to see people new and old as well just getting reinvigorated with it.”
A long-time Lloydminster resident, Kaschl says he’s a husband and a father to four kids. The family first moved here in the ’90s.
“We moved here in ’95 when mom and dad bought the Nutters Natural Foods,” he said.
There was an opportunity for him to return to Lloydminster after being in Edmonton for school and work.
“They (Kaschl’s parents) had a water company they wanted to sell and they weren’t able to sell it at fair value,” he said. “Dawn and I, my wife, looked at it and thought there was an opportunity for us to come back to Lloydminster.
“We enjoyed the small-town feel, the values of the community and our existing family here and friends that still remained here.”
That decision brought the family back to the Border City for good.
“We’re operating Kaschl’s Culligan Water now,” he said. “We brought my brother and his wife into the family business.
“When we made that decision, it was a family decision. Mom and dad were there.”
Kaschl says he has plans and goals for the chamber over the next year and looks forward to his time as president.
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