Celebrating Business

Last week the nominations opened for the 2013 Samuel McLeod Business Awards.  It has been a very positive start as many customers and staff from local business are nominated and stating very positive experiences that they have had from Prince Albert businesses.

For over 20 years businesses in Prince Albert and area have been recognized for demonstrating success and exceptional performance.  Taking a look back on the winners of the Business of the Year category you can see the success and longevity of each of these businesses.  What business will be added to the list on April 17th, 2014?

Past recipients of the Business of the Year are:

2012- Prince Albert Brewing Company

2011 - PBCN Petro Canada

2010 -  AODBT Architecture and Interior Design

2009 - Wilcox Zuk Chovin

2008 - Mann - Northway Auto Source

2007 - Tru North RV Auto and Marine Sales

2006 - Broda Group of Companies

2005 – Travelodge

2004 - Prince Albert Co-operative Association Ltd

2003 - Johns Nursery and Market Gardens

2002 - Carlton Trail Railway

2001 - Ashly Cabinets & Windows

2000 - Prince Albert Co-operative Association Ltd.

1999 - Prince Albert Credit Union

1998 - Green Tree Fencing Supplies Ltd.

1997 - Provincial Forest Products Ltd.

1996 - Marlboro Inn

1995 - Leon's Furniture

1994 - Mann Motor Products Ltd.

1993 - Lakeland Ford Sales Ltd.

1992 - P.A. Bottlers Ltd.

1991 - P.A. Northern Bus Lines Ltd.

1990 - Thorpe Brothers Ltd.

A Pittance of Time ~ by Dawn M. Barker

“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” - Cynthia Ozick

On November 11, 1999 Canadian songwriter Terry Kelly was in a drugstore in Dartmouth when he heard an overhead announcement asking customers who would be in the store at 11:00 a.m. to participate in two minutes of silence, in honour of those who fought to defend our country.

The announcement made an impression on Terry; the store’s support of the Royal Canadian Legion’s two minutes of silence to remember those who had given all, he felt, was laudable.

A few minutes later, the announcement commencing the two minutes was made. Every person other than one man who was at the store with his young child honoured the silence. 

As the man ignored the symbolic gesture of respect, and tried to get the store clerk into a conversation, Terry’s anger was overwhelming. While the store was showing leadership and acknowledgement of the need for education about the cost of war, this man was teaching a much more personal lesson to his child – one of disrespect and selfishness.

Terry took that anger, and wrote the well-known song “A Pittance of Time”

If you haven’t watched this video yet, I strongly recommend that you do -- and then ask yourself what pittance of time you’re willing to give this November 11 to honour the brave, selfless souls who put their lives on the line so that freedom could continue.

Does your business allow the Royal Canadian Legion to display a poppy collection box on site? (If not, why not?)

Do you display wreaths of remembrance in your windows?

Do you attend your local Remembrance Day ceremonies?

Is your business closed on November 11 in respect? Or if it can’t be, are you at least willing to acknowledge the sacrifice of thousands of young men and women through a two-minute period of reflection?

Does your business offer special pricing or deals for members of the Legion and the Armed Forces?

Are you willing to provide leadership through education of young people about how awful war is, by taking part in public ceremonies on November 11, or volunteering in schools as part of their Remembrance Day services?

Will you visit a local seniors’ centre or care home to visit any remaining Veterans, or to speak to their relatives who may live there?

Can you make time to write a letter of thanks and remembrance, and share it by sending it to your local newspaper for publication as an op/ed piece?

Will you donate to the Legion so that it can continue its work, or apply to join it (if someone in your family served)? Time is often the most precious gift, and the existing Legion members are getting older and need help with their mandate.

And as Terry Kelly notes, this time will mean nothing to you in the end, but it will mean a lot to someone else. It’s a pittance of time.

“Take two minutes would you mind?
It’s a pittance of time
For the boys and the girls all over
May we never forget our young become vets
At the end of the line, it’s a pittance of time.”
- Terry Kelly

Is your business communicating effectively?

Communication seems to be a recurring theme that I keep hearing about; so let’s see what we can do to address the communication issues in Prince Albert.

Communication with your clients is very important.  Prince Albert is a small enough community that news travels fast whether it is good or bad.  So how can you keep a positive image of your business in our community?

Consistent and encouraging communication works the best.  How can you do this?  There are several ways that can be effective. One of the easiest is through a Facebook page, which I covered in my last post. 

A Facebook page is the most inexpensive form of advertising that can benefit your business.  By writing a few Facebook posts a week you are keeping your business name in your clients Facebook feed, which is what you want.  When you post things that are relevant to your business and are positive in nature you will have a greater chance that your clients will visit your store and by being positive - statistics show that clients will spend more money with you over your competition.

A website. If you are a small business a website seems like a huge expense.  That is a fallacy.  An inexpensive or free site can be set up with Weebly or Wordpress.  Check out our new Samuel McLeod Business Awards website that was set up very easily with Weebly.  Your website is where your customers can go for more detailed information about your products or services.  Studies indicate that many consumers do their research online before they ever step through the door of your business.  If they can’t find the information online they will shop somewhere else.

Email lists- do you own a business that could benefit from keeping your customers informed on a weekly or monthly basis.  Mailchimp is a free and easy program that you can use to keep in contact with your clients.  Because of the recent Canadian laws concerning email marketing you must have your clients permission before you can add them to an email marketing list.  What a great way to find out evaluations of your product or service, have your customers answer a survey, notify of upcoming events or promotions.  Email marketing is only effective if it is not overused.  Do not send random messages, pick a day or date and stick with it.  Your clients will then be looking for that email, which is what you are trying to build and develop.  You can also link your email marketing to your Facebook page so that your clients can sign up via Facebook or just read your email on line.  A win, win situation.

There are a lot of opportunities to keep your name out in the community, you need to pick one and start working on it today.  Of course, the best form of communication is word of mouth.  Once people use your product or service and have a good experience that news will spread.  As a business owner you represent your business 24 hours a day, compromises can have a huge impact on the sustainability of your business.

Want to learn more?  Check back weekly for more Business Tips & Tricks!

Carolyn ~ Communications Coordinator

How is your business represented on Facebook?

I recently read an article that stated Saskatchewan residents love Facebook.  That means that your clients and customers are watching their Facebook feeds daily.  Studies show that Facebook’s most active usage is between 9am –5pm.

How is your business represented on Facebook?

Your business needs to be represented as a “page” on Facebook, this makes it so that you can promote your business or organization to the millions of users on Facebook and they can share your page and posts with others.  Which is free advertising for you. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind with your Facebook page:

• Status updates are important but do not overwhelm, max 2-3 a day
• Show the people that “like” your page the benefits of your business.
• Users are more likely to engage with businesses if they post pictures.
• Photos included in your status updates generate 53% more likes than the average post.
• Check your spelling before you post.
• Mentions others with @, interaction helps get you more traffic and attention.
• If you are positive on Facebook people spend twice as much money with your business.

If you think you don’t have time to keep updating Facebook -- you are wrong.

In the picture above you can see a really useful feature of having a Facebook page.  You can schedule your posts.  You can write as many status updates as you want and schedule them throughout the week or month.  In 10 minutes you can write your updates for the entire week.  Everyone can find 10 minutes once a week to update their page.

Facebook is used to keep your business name in the minds of your customers, your website is where they go for more information.  If you do not have a website you can easily create one with Weebly.  Our Samuel Mcleod Business Awards website was just created using the program and I am very impressed with how easy it is to use and all of the features.  If you do not have a website or you are looking to update your current website take a moment to check out Weebly.

Keep checking our blog for more Business Tips and Tricks!

Carolyn- Communications Coordinator

Small Business Week 2013

We are excited to be apart of the Chief Economist’s tour through Canada during Small Business Week.  Be sure to register for this event today!

2013 September Luncheon

Strong Chamber Strong Community

As most may know, the Prince Albert & District Chamber of Commerce is the largest business based organization in our region.  We are a membership based organization, independent of all levels of government.   We strive to be the Voice of Business, to serve, protect and promote our members.  We offer advocacy, advertising, networking, marketing and information to our members, as well as other products and services, such as access to Chamber group benefits.

What some may not be aware of is, that the Prince Albert & District Chamber of Commerce also looks to become educated and engaged on many other sectors that can greatly affect not only the business community, but our community as a whole.  These sectors include; Health, Education, Labour force, and polices, bylaws or Acts that stem from National, Provincial and Municipal governments. Our engagement and collaboration on these areas helps us to build not only a strong chamber, but a strong Community.

We have a strong interest in engaging our members, to ensure we understand current business concerns, Community needs, as well as to look to assist in identifying regional priorities, so we can assist in growing a healthy vibrant community & region.  The chamber is a network, which operates on several levels; locally we look to support our members and assist in creating opportunities for networking, marketing, advocacy and more.  Provincially, we work with the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce to engage on matters that are relevant to not only our community but our province as well.  Nationally, we work with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce on matters that affect Canada, IE. The current labour shortages across Canada, as well as use our chamber networks to pursue policy changes at the national level.

I encourage everyone to get involved with the Chamber, if you are not familiar with the Chamber, then I encourage you to contact us to see how we may be able to assist your business or how some of our current initiatives may  align with your current interests.

What does 2013 hold for the business community in Prince Albert?

2013 looks to hold much promise for the Province of Saskatchewan.  2012 saw increased economic activities and overall growth was up 1.9 % over the previous year.  November of 2012 also saw records established for growth in manufacturing, and oil production in Saskatchewan reached a new record of production - producing 172.9 million barrels.  These records are expected to be exceeded once again,  in 2013.

The Conference Board of Canada is predicting that mining production will double in Saskatchewan’s north by 2020.  From all accounts great things for the province of Saskatchewan.

So how does Prince Albert capitalize on all this growth??

At a time when our region is battling challenges; bridge, water & sewer infrastructure, roads etc.  Threat of increased taxes are looming as property values are being assessed at near double from five years ago.  So where is the answer to find the needed  balance between meeting infrastructure needs to sustain our community, while ensuring we are planning for the growth ahead?

Perhaps this elusive answer in strengthening our region as a whole.  Ensuring collaboration of all stakeholders, as stakeholders such as PADIDA , Prince Albert Housing Authority or Prince Albert Tourism to name a few,  have all spent much time dedicated to a specific focus, now is the time to collect & utilize these insights, without the need to reproduce what has already been produced and is available for the picking.  Through collaboration, our Region can accomplish the tasks that have been identified as needed for our community; Infrastructure upgrades,  Affordable Housing,  long term planning for future development of both industrial & residential lands.

What of Economic Development, what are our opportunities, do we need a new brand to ensure business attraction to our region?

Now is the time to act, it is a critical time to act to ensure Prince Albert & area are not left behind. 

 

Working together can be the successful key to assist our region in achieving what we need to achieve to remain prosperous and included in the Provinces plans as it moves forward.

I would also like to take a moment to thank everyone who has taken the time to complete our recent survey regarding the need for a Second Bridge in Prince Albert.  The Survey is open to our members until February 8/2013.  We will then circulate a similar version to the community at large, as we are seeking input and insights on this matter that has greatly affected our community.  I would also like to advise all readers that the Prince Albert & District Chamber of Commerce, is a non profit membership based organization that is independent of all Municipal, Provincial or federal governments.  Through our members,  we are the Voice of Business in Prince Albert & Area.

 

 

State of the City Address