Sask Chamber of Commerce members with Melfort representatives (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

Growing Tomorrow's Economy

Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce makes pit stop in Melfort

Jul 27, 2023 | 10:39 AM

Four key people in the higher-up ranks of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce recently travelled down to Melfort.

Prabha Ramaswamy (Chief Executive Officer), Jordan Ewart (Director of Policy and Research), Paula Welke (Chief Membership Officer), and Virginia Wilkinson (Chief Operations Officer) were in town to talk business.

“The local chambers really are the critical organizations that support small businesses and all of our communities and we really want to ensure that we’re providing the support that they need, while also building those relationships with our colleagues across all chambers, the local business communities and the boards,” explained Ramaswamy.

Hosted by the Melfort Trade Alliance Chamber of Commerce (MTACC), the Saskatchewan Chamber was given the opportunity to have a roughly hour-and-a-half city tour, and a luncheon, meet and greet, and question and answer presentation at the Canalta Hotel in Melfort.

Local dignitaries were in attendance such as MLA Todd Goudy and Mayor Glenn George, and were joined by city councillors, local business owners, media members, and others.

High honours

Melfort's Ferland takes home Jake Gaudaur Veterans' Award at CFL Awards

15h ago

Riderville

Age and Guile beats youth and a bad haircut in Western Final!

20h ago

Budget Deliberations

City of Melfort draft operating budget sees 3.36% property tax increase

Nov 10, 2025

“I think it was really important for us as a Saskatchewan chamber to come into Melfort, to see the community and have a firsthand experience of what this community is about, to understand the business aspect of this community, to forge relationships with my colleagues, and really look at how we can work together to strengthen this community and our province as a whole,” Ramaswamy added.

Some main topics of discussion included inflation, interest rates, labour shortages, lack of access to skilled labour and talent, maintaining talent, and more.

Ramaswamy told northeastNOW that they took the most important step in addressing those issues, as hearing them directly from the source and understanding the passion the community has leads them in the right direction.

As for the MTACC and their members, this was a make-up of a long-awaited in-person interaction.

Ramaswamy was supposed to travel down herself earlier in the year for their AGM, however, the winter conditions and weather permitted it.

MTACC executive director, Cal Gratton mentioned it was amazing to see the chamber down in full force with four of its high-level members.

“Living, working and playing in Melfort, we all know what a great community it is, but for people living in Regina and Saskatoon, maybe they don’t know what Melfort has to offer. This was an important way to get the word out to the provincial level that we are here and we provide a lot of services and recreational activities as well as anything else,” he said.

–

news@northeastnow.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8