Warman, Martensville chambers of commerce amalgamate

The Warman and Martensville chambers of commerce officially amalgamated Wednesday into a new entity.

Jaimie Malmgren will lead the new Prairie Sky Chamber of Commerce. She previously served as the executive director of the Warman chamber and has also done some work for the Martensville chamber.

Malmgren said the two organizations started exploring in the spring how they could collaborate more extensively for the good of the region's businesses and the communities they serve.

"We have some shared goals, and we just thought that combining our resources would make us a stronger advocate for the future growth of our economic region," she said.

On Oct. 4, members of the two chambers of commerce voted in favour of the proposed amalgamation. The new chamber's name and logo were unveiled Wednesday afternoon.

Malmgren said the Warman and Martensville chambers of commerce had previously collaborated on projects such as the business excellence awards in the region, which were "hugely successful." It made sense for the organizations to continue to work together.

Malmgren believes the amalgamation will give the region a bigger voice and also increase the chamber's economic diversity. Prairie Sky Chamber of Commerce will represent about 200 businesses and that's a number that Malmgren expects to grow.

"The collective knowledge and vigour that each of these chambers have is just going to lead to some really great things," she said.

Malmgren said the name Prairie Sky Chamber of Commerce was chosen because it didn't include the names of the two cities and "we wanted to think more regional."

"We have beautiful skies and it just kind of stuck for us," she said.