A glimpse behind the scenes at what the Whitecourt & District Chamber of Commerce does to support the local economy

Have you used or heard of Whitecourt Bucks? The initiative is an ongoing promotion through the Whitecourt & District Chamber of Commerce. Chamber Executive Director Dana Severson said that West Fraser was initially the one who got the project going. “They connected with their local mills throughout the province to have them chat with their municipalities and see if there was a local dollar or local spend program that they could use for their employees for Christmas in lieu of parties or regular bonuses.”

Blue Ridge Lumber Ranger Board reached out to Severson at the Chamber office to see if it were doable. She said that it took roughly two weeks to get everything set up. As word of the initiative spread, the interest grew, and by December 20, they had $95,000 worth of local bucks purchased and distributed to the community. “The uptake, not only from those who wanted to purchase the dollars but also the uptake from the business community that was willing to participate in the program, was incredible,” she said. “The program wouldn’t have been so attractive or successful if the number of participating businesses were limited. So, it really went hand in hand.”

To spend Whitecourt Bucks, shoppers simply go to one of the roughly 45 businesses taking part. The process of joining the initiative is painless. “The business owner literally just lets me know that they want to join, then when a customer comes in, the customer can use their Whitecourt Bucks the same as they would use a regular $50 bill in Canadian currency and then it’s just some backend accounting for the business of submitting the bucks to the Chamber for reimbursement.” 

The Whitecourt & District Chamber of Commerce will be looking to connect with major employers to discuss ways that this initiative could play a role beyond Christmas. “For things like milestone awards for employees or any celebratory things where they would be gifting a dollar value that would usually be given as a gift certificate or gift card to a non-local retailer and instead consider something like the Whitecourt Bucks, year-round.”

The opportunity is not just for businesses either; anyone can purchase Whitecourt Bucks! “People can buy them as gifts, and it’s a dollar for dollar exchange. They just connect with the Whitecourt Chamber office, and we can do cheque, etransfer, or cash for payment for those. We want to shout out to the Town of Whitecourt and Woodlands County for partnering on sponsoring the printing costs for the bucks so that the Chamber wasn’t out of pocket to be able to do that.”

Another initiative that the Chamber has on the go is the Love for Local Hot Spot. “It’s a partnership between Remax Advantage Whitecourt, Brogan Safety, XM 105, and the Chamber. We are trying to generate some extra love for businesses that might’ve felt the impact of restrictions a little harder than others. The community or the business itself can connect with the Chamber to be nominated as a candidate.” Once a week, on XM 105’s Thursday morning show, they announce the hotspot for the day. It is a surprise to shoppers and the selected store. “The public can go to the store and just for checking it out, making a purchase, booking an appointment or learning more about a product they can enter into a draw for $50 in Whitecourt Bucks,” she explained.

Severson said that she cannot recall a time where there has ever been a stronger emphasis on supporting local, shopping local, and intentionally taking action to support local. “That lends itself to supporting a Chamber of Commerce because we’re able to act as a collective voice for the business community. We do a lot of work behind the scenes so that businesses can focus on being a business.” She said that gives them the chance to focus on operations and growth. “We can handle business supports, advocacy and linkages with different network connections and act as another avenue for promotion. We handle that in the background as the collective support for our business community. That is the investment that a business would make in their Chamber of Commerce, and that’s the return on investment that they would receive,” said Severson.

Through advocacy work, the Chamber remains a loud voice supporting businesses, especially with the province’s Recovery Plan. They have repeatedly sent letters to the Emergency Management Cabinet Committee and the Jobs and Economy Cabinet Policy Committee regarding reconsiderations on the restrictions impacting businesses. Their most recent letter was a partnership between other Chambers in the Yellowhead region and focused on the differences between rural/smaller urban centres and major city centres regarding the impact of restrictions.

“We’ve not heard any direct responses back, but we found that in correlation with sending these letters, and with other letters sent from other Chambers in the province, there have been some differences to the restrictions that were initially in place,” she said. “So, there is an impact. The Alberta Chambers of Commerce had a call with Premier Kenney on February 9, and we were able to ask direct questions on behalf of our business community. That is the access we can get for our members as a chamber, which is the meat and potatoes of the organization.”

Another big move behind the scenes is when the Chamber acts as a conduit for different municipalities and organizations to come together to push towards a common benefit. “There is an Energy and Resource Corridor Task Force looking to identify places in the province that are essentially ripe for investment and should be highlighted as places to do business in Alberta, and we want to be on that shortlist,” explained Severson. “It’s coming together to raise awareness at a provincial level with the government and the various ministries that the Whitecourt region and the Highway 43 region are places that should be on the radar for consideration when there is a new investment or growth opportunity for the province.”

She said that the roundtables bring together diverse partners, grow a mutual awareness of regional assets and resources, and showcase complimentary collaborations to help make the area more attractive for investment. “There’s a lot of great partnerships coming from that, and we are going to continue our involvement.”