The Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce office - CHAT News file photo

By Charles Lefebvre

Chamber executive director recognized with national award

Sep 23, 2019 | 3:19 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce’s executive director was recognized with a national award over the weekend.

Lisa Kowalchuk, who has been with the chamber for the past decade, was named the Executive Director of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce Executives of Canada. The award was handed out at the Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Chambers of Commerce in Saint John, New Brunswick, which was scheduled to wrap up on Monday.

“This is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime award that’s given out, and it’s an extreme honour” said Kowalchuk over the phone on Monday.

“To look at the long list of recipients that have received this prior, and they are truly the best of the best within our chamber network. It’s an absolute honour to be recognized alongside some of my mentors and some of my peers within the network.”

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Lisa Kowalchuk poses with a photo after being recogized as the Chamber Executive of the Year. – Photo courtesy Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce

The award is handed out annually to an executive director of a chamber of commerce based on membership (Kowalchuk’s award is in the 500-999 member category). Executives are assessed on their performance, membership growth, the financial status of the chamber and the candidates contributions to their local chamber.

“We have certainly taken major strides with our advocacy efforts, and ensuring that the voice of the business community is heard and represented at all levels of government, so on a local, provincial and national level,” she said. “We’ve certainly ensured that we are representative of the concerns and needs of our business community, so that’s been a huge accomplishments.”

Kowalchuk spoke about the recent Chamber Connects initiative, in which the chamber closed its office and spent six days going directly to businesses and meeting with owners to find out the best way to advocate for them.

The annual general meeting featured discussions from chambers across Canada about policies the Canadian Chambers of Commerce plan to adopt, focused on business advocacy. Kowalchuk says 80 policy resolutions were debated by members, with 69 resolutions passing.

“Right now, it’s important the Canadian Chamber has a playbook they can use after the federal election this October,” she said. “The Canadian Chamber takes positions and advocates for the business community as a result of positions and recommendations that come forward from local chambers across our network.”

The annual general meeting wraps up Monday evening.