STETTLER REGIONAL BOARD OF TRADE AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Page | 1 Stettler Regional Board of June Trade and Community Newsletter Development Edition: 2014, Volume 6 IN THIS ISSUE: Steel Wheel Stampede • Steel Wheel Stampede • Member to Member News The 6th Annual Steel Wheel Stampede committee has been working hard on • planning this year’s event to be the biggest ever and are pleased to officially announce Heartland Beautification the entertainment this year will be Emerson Drive! Committee • Economic Update For well over a decade, • Stettler Regional Board of Emerson Drive has been a Trade and Community staple in the country music Development Free community, known for being a Memberships band to crank out the hits, • Chamber of Commerce deliver electrifying stage shows Group Insurance Plan and wow audiences all across • North America. Emerson Drive Agricultural Update has racked up countless award • Community Events nominations in both the U.S. • Women in Business country market at the ACM’s Luncheon and CMA’s, as well as in • Business to Business Canada where they have Classifieds picked up multiple trophies for Group or Duo of the Year from the CCMA (Canadian Country Music Association). Business Hours The annual Steel Wheel Stampede Parade will also be The Stettler Regional Board of held Saturday August 30th. Trade will now be open summer Parade entries are now being hours for visitors to have convenient accepted at the Stettler Board access to our services. of Trade office by contacting Stacey at 403-742-3181 or email at [email protected]. Our Summer Hours are: Monday to Friday More information and updates on the 6th Annual Steel Wheel Stampede, the 8:30am – 5:00pm parade, the Rib Cook Off and the Stampede Spirit Contest will come in the following Saturdays weeks. Watch our website for updates! 10:00am – 4:00pm STETTLER REGIONAL BOARD OF TRADE AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Page | 2 Member to Member News Sovereign Technology Support is offering a 50% discount to non-profit organization on all service rates except travel, provided they meet some simple guidelines (which can be seen on our website). For more information, please call Tyler at 403-742-0030. “Construction for Kids and Community” The Stettler Regional Child Care Society is kicking off their ‘Construction for Kids and Community’ fundraising campaign to help reduce the final cost of their mortgage that the Town of Stettler is supporting them with. All donations are greatly appreciated and eligible for a charitable receipt. Your donation can be dropped off, or mailed to, Stettler Regional Child Care Centre, 5702 – 48 Avenue, Stettler, AB, T0C 2L1. If you have any questions, please call Kris at (403)741-9363. New Website and Mobile Phone App for Your Assistance Gilbert Benefit Consulting is pleased to introduce their NEW WEBSITE! You will find interactive assistance, forms, current events, online claims access and MUCH MORE! Take a minute to have a quick look and forward on to your employees. As always, they can be contacted at 1.888.898.1010. http://gilbertbenefitconsulting.com/ Mobile Claims! You may download the free app for iPhones: Symbility Health Mobile Claims https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/symbility-health-mobile-claims/id671060840?mt=8 May 23rd the Stettler Canalta had the pleasure of teaming up with Stettler’s’ Finest and the Stettler Middle School for their annual "Jam the Van Hot Dog Fundraiser" to raise funds for their anti-bullying campaigns. The Stettler Canalta Hotel donated and sold 275 hot dogs, and 192 cans of pop; combined with the schools sale of jumbo freezies, the Stettler Middle School was able to raise approximately $900. The local RCMP and Animal Control came to the school with the local police van, and challenged the students to "Jam the Van" with as many students as they could. Each grade pitted the boys against the girls, with the grade 8 boys successfully squishing 36 people in the van. This was also a great opportunity for the officers to have some one on one time with the students and let them know that it's ok to come forward if someone is bullying them. Over all it was a beautifully sunny day, with laughing kids, friendly officers, and amazing Nathan's Hot Dogs. STETTLER REGIONAL BOARD OF TRADE AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Page | 2 Heartland Beautification Committee`s Green Tip of the Month” Recycling Excellence Awards The Heartland Beautification Committee is seeking nominations to recognize outstanding recycling efforts in the Stettler area. Emphasis is on programs or habits that exemplify one or more of the 3 R's: reducing our resource consumption, re-using rather than buying new, and/or recycling as much as possible. Any individual, business or organization may nominate a candidate (including themselves) in any of the following three categories. 1) individuals/households 2) businesses 3) non-profit organizations and institutions Recipients will be recognized at the Communities in Bloom Judges Banquet in July and at the Stettler Regional Board of Trade Business and Citizenship Awards in October. Nominations may be made electronically at http://www.stettler.net/admin/contentx/default.cfm?PageId=16194 or forms may be picked up at the Stettler Recreation Centre Office. Deadline is June 27, 2014. No one can do everything. Everyone can do something. Sponsored by the Heartland Beautification Committee STETTLER REGIONAL BOARD OF TRADE AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Page | 2 Stettler Regional Board of Economic Update Trade and Community Development Free Retail Sales Memberships Sales driven higher Retail spending in Alberta keeps on climbing at a solid rate with sales totaling Reminder that through continued financial support from the Town of $6.57 billion in March, up 1.1% from February. This was the third straight month Stettler; memberships with the Stettler with above 1% sales growth. Sales were 11.1% higher than March 2013, the Regional Board of Trade and Community largest year-over-year (y/y) growth since June 2007. The top contributors were Development are funded by your annual Business License fees and taxes, and gasoline stations (+26.3% y/y) and motor vehicle and parts dealers (+12.2% y/y), there are no additional costs to you. We which account for over three-quarters of the increase in sales (Chart 1). This is the simply request you to complete an fourth consecutive month of over 20% sales growth at gasoline stations. Sales in application form and we will send you a Canada were relatively unchanged from the previous month at $41.1 billion, 3.9% Membership Certificate to display. Many benefits are included with your higher than the same month last year. Gasoline stations (+8.5% y/y) and health membership such as: and personal care stores (+7.5% y/y) posted the highest growth. * The Chamber of Commerce Group Wholesale Trade Insurance Plan * Discounted Rates for Visa and/or Consistent strength MasterCard * Fuel Fleet Discounts Wholesalers had a strong month in March, with sales growing 7.4% y/y to $6.8 * Purolator Volume Discounts billion. Much of this growth has stemmed from food and beverage wholesalers, …And so much more! where steady growth over the last two years has persisted through the first So don’t forget to complete your quarter. All major areas have sustained positive year-over-year growth through membership application/ renewal today. the first three months of 2014. In the first quarter of 2014, wholesale trade rose If you require more information, feel 5.4% compared with a year ago. free to contact us at the Stettler Regional Board of Trade at 403-742-3181! Employment Insurance Stability in the labour market Chamber of Commerce The number of Albertans receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits Group Insurance Plan was little changed in March at 29,740. The number of beneficiaries has been fairly stable since October 2011, following a long-run downward trend that started after the trough of the last recession in the summer of 2009. Nationally, people receiving EI benefits was virtually flat in March at 509,760. Canada’s #1 Plan for Employee Job Vacancies Benefits Help Wanted in Alberta For Firms with 1-50 Employees The total number of job vacancies in Alberta was 45,000 (not seasonally adjusted) Extended Health Care, Dental Care, for the three months ending in February, a 5.7% drop from the same time last Group Term Life Insurance, Critical year. The job vacancy rate was 2.3% in February, meaning that 2.3% of the Illness, Disability Coverage, Accidental Death & Dismemberment available jobs in Alberta were vacant. This was 0.2 percentage points lower than February 2013. The highest job vacancy rate was in food and accommodation Get a Free Quote: services at 7.5%, a new high, and a 2.4 percentage point increase from the same www.buychambers.ca time last year. Alberta remains the province with the highest job vacancy rate by a or contact your local advisor: Gord Tulk, B.Sc. (Agr.), Advisor substantial margin (Chart 3), and also had 23.3% of Canadian job vacancies, despite - Slate Insurance Inc. making up only about 11% of Canada’s population. Nationally, there were 193,500 1-877-347-5805 job vacancies, 9.7% fewer than the same period last year. This puts the national job 403-309-7435 vacancy rate at 1.3%, lower than last year by 0.2 percentage points. Fax 403-347-5805 STETTLER REGIONAL BOARD OF TRADE AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Page | 2 Agricultural Update Farmers Encouraged to Participate in Open Farm Days Farmers and ranchers across the province can showcase how they produce quality food by inviting their urban neighbours for a visit during Open Farm Days being held August 23 & 24th.