Jody Herbus, president of the Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce, was thrilled to celebrate the grand opening of their new office with a fundraising BBQ for Big Brothers Big Sisters Lloydminster. Geoff Lee Meridian Source
It was worth the wait. The Lloydminster Chamber of Commerce held a grand opening of its new office on June 9 with a community fundraising barbecue for Big Brothers Big Sisters.
The event was held under sunny skies nearly a year after taking possession, to the delight of Serena Sjodin, the chamber’s executive director.
“It’s fantastic to have our office again so we can help to serve our members and community,” said Sjodin.
The delayed opening was due to COVID restrictions and the time needed to finish the interior of the office at Unit 2 1808 50 Ave.
“We were waiting for nice weather. We wanted to have a community BBQ and we wanted to do it in the summer,” explained Sjodin.
The official opening was also a sigh of relief after their former location in the Community Services Building was demolished during COVID and staff worked from home.
“It is really great to be back in our office to have our staff working together collaborating and being able to serve our members and our community and have an opportunity for people to drop in and speak to us in person,” said Sjodin.
Despite the challenges over the past couple of years, the chamber has managed to grow its membership to 507 as of the grand opening.
“It’s one of our all-time highs. We’re still pushing that growth to try to help new businesses. It’s really good to see,” said chamber president, Jody Herbus.
“Actually, during COVID, all the people at the chamber worked really hard as some members had to leave as businesses closed their doors and cancelled memberships. They kept on looking for new members. They kept reaching out and finding new members.”
The grand opening was held one hour after the official groundbreaking for the first phase of development of the Wellings of Lloydminster retirement community at the west end of the city.
Herbus says projects like that, and the ongoing expansion and relocation of Canadian Tire, are exciting to see happen for local businesses.
“It’s almost like a breath of fresh air,” said Herbus.
“As you walk down the street, you see more and more vehicles, you see more people out shopping. They are looking for opportunities.”
Herbus says a lot of home-based businesses that started during the pandemic are also looking for storefront locations and might hire some employees to get their name out.
Herbus says convenience and price led them to lease their new location.
“We don’t always get lots of visitors. We get a lot more phone calls than physical visitors, so a combination of the convenience and the prices as well,” explained Herbus.
“We are very grateful for the landlords offering us a good deal.”
