Estevan's business community celebrated the Estevan Chamber of Commerce’s 120-year anniversary with a full day of information sessions from community leaders.

“The quality of the conversations that happened, the connections that were made, the information that was provided was just inspiring,” said Chamber of Commerce Director Jackie Wall. “I really look forward to what may come from the people in the room because of today.”

Several guest speakers provided insight into their respective industries. Andria Brady from Community Futures Sunrise discussed how their group can assist small businesses and the importance of joining the online world. David Hammermeister from MNP hosted a panel with business leaders from the oil and supply industry. Gord More from Southeast TechHub offered insight into AI and the importance of embracing change in technology and problem-solving, among others.

Wall explained that the event highlighted the work that Chambers are doing in Estevan and across the Southeast. The final panel of the day, hosted by Wall, reflected this message and featured Estevan MLA Lori Carr, former Saskatchewan Chamber Director Steve McLellan, Weyburn Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Monica Osborn, and Community Futures Regional Economic Development Coordinator Christina Birch.

Another topic discussed was how each person views success and how this can be translated into the future.

“Success for me is ensuring that every person that works in the industries that we have today has an opportunity to work in whatever industry may be next. So, we have to be able to run courses and programs and retool individuals so they can move on and be successful in whatever comes next for Estevan,” said Carr.

The panel also noted that the Southeast Chambers have started working more closely together, opening the door to communication and hopefully allowing for more collaborative efforts in the future.

“I was hopeful before, but now that you hear all of the stories and you see what’s happening within our region, we have so much to offer and so much potential for us to continue to economically grow and culturally thrive, while forming those collaborations and having these conversations,” said Wall.