Business After 5 is back! The initiative created by the Strathmore Wheatland Chamber of Commerce (SWCC) as a way for local businesses to network and learn from each other, will be back in place this month.

We spoke with Chair of the SWCC Hayley Poirier about some of the exciting opportunities coming up for new and more seasoned businesses in the community this month.

“Our plans for the SWCC for the spring and as we launch back into some of the great ideas of events opening up, we're going to be having our Business after 5 come back again,” she said.

“We're going to be reaching out to a couple of our local businesses to find out who would like to host the first one l. And what that will look like is we're going to be inviting business owners to come up to meet up and network at the host business and just learn about each other talk with one another and connect about what's happening in business,” she said.

She explained that on March 24th they will also be hosting a virtual forum, similar to a very successful forum that was held last year.

“It was so successful in the fall and into the winter. We were able to get on and use some of the ideas on Zoom, that helped give a platform for businesses to be able to speak to something that they might be an expert in.”

“The whole idea behind it is with the world opening up and with finances being maybe slightly different than they used to be, it'll be great to get some expert opinions as to some of the ideas behind how people can make ends meet right now, what an increase to interest rates might look like for people. And other ideas about what's really important and a way for us to be able to budget consciously and effectively,” said Poirier.

The financial forum will be held on March 24th at 6 p.m.

More details about the financial forum will be posted on the SWCC website.

Keep your eye out for all of the Strathmore and Wheatland County Chamber of Commerce news by visiting the chamber at theswcc.ca or on social media.