If you are wondering how future Cochrane plans may affect you personally or as a business leader, you may want to attend tomorrow's (June 19) Lunch n Learn hosted by the Cochrane and District Chamber of Commerce.

David Smith, President of the Chamber, says besides being held in a new venue, this Lunch n Learn is the perfect opportunity to get informed. "The event is being held at the Lion's Event Centre and it's going to be catered by the Venue Bar and Grill, so it's a little bit of a higher end event and it will be the last State of the Union with the Mayor as he brings all the businesses up to date on what's happening."

Smith anticipates attendees will get an update on the bridge, plans pertaining to new development and business park areas, as well as the Mayor's relationship with Peter Guthrie, MLA for Airdrie-Cochrane, and what the future holds for the Highway 1A/22 intersection. "It's going to be a very important State of the Union before everyone breaks for the summer. We are quite excited about it; we are hoping that we'll get a large turnout and a lot of people interested in what is happening as we approach the fall. So I think it is an important event for people to get out to, ask the Mayor lots of questions, and find out what the Town of Cochrane is planning."

With the Cochrane and District Chamber of Commerce being an advocate for business members; discussion around tourism, high gas prices, and what strategies are in place to help keep our business community competitive may also be topics of great conversation. "Mayor Genung has always interested in hearing from the business community and we want the business community out to start to speak for themselves more and more. We can be advocates, but we need the business members to be out there, so while it may be a State of the Union address I think there will be a two-way dialogue as much as it is a speech from the Mayor."

While the feedback received from previous Mayor updates has always been positive, Smith says they are really encouraging members and non-members to spend more time informing and advocating for themselves. "We are hoping they will ask more questions in terms of what their concerns are, and even to provide more feedback on the Town's direction by giving the Mayor more ideas of how they would like to see the town grow and progress from the business point of view."

As the fairly recent named new President for the Chamber, Smith shares the board is taking a new approach. "We are in the middle of a new strategic plan for the Chamber and engagement of business members is one of our bigger goals. Dialogue and engagement will be formulated more into our strategic plan and the board will decide how we want that to play out."

If you are interested in attending tomorrow's (June 19) Lunch n Learn, you can register HERE.  "We want businesses whether they are members or not to attend. It's an opportunity for everyone to come out and hear for themselves, and you will be well fed."