Chamber of Commerce Has Endless Opportunities

Who are you?  Where to you come from?  What expertise do you bring to the table that will enhance our Prince Albert & District Chamber of Commerce?  I’m sure these are just a few of the questions that come to mind.  

First question, who am I? 

Well, as stated on my business card, I am Elise Hildebrandt.  I am a lady with a French first name and a German last name.

Where do I come from? 

I grew up in Warman, my family moved five times growing up, and each time it was only two blocks from our previous address.  Although I have had opportunity to move away from “home” numerous times, this is the first time, the move to Prince Albert & District Chamber of Commerce is the first time a move has felt right.

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Throughout my career, I have been employed in both the mortgage and life insurance industries.  I worked at Cooperative Trust, now known as Concentra Financial, where I walked my 10,000 steps each day as I delivered the 3 inches of paper received on our fax machine.  Overtime I worked my way up to mortgage underwriter.  I was about nine months away from my 10th anniversary, which would have meant 7 weeks of vacation, when the CEO advised that 60 employees would be laid off over the next six months.  Becoming a mortgage broker seemed like the next step, so I started my new adventure.  

As a self-employed mortgage broker, I quickly learned that if I wanted to succeed I had to network with like-minded people.  I knew my search ended when I walked into the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce and met with the CEO Kent Smith-Windsor.  At the first event I attended, I was met with numerous resources, like-minded people, and realized I had found a business support network that opened doors that I would have never found on my own.

The Chamber of Commerce has provided me with connections to Warman Emergency Response Team, Canadian Deaf Blind Association, and a business networking association.  These associations have given me the opportunity to be Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President and President.  This in turn gave me the confidence to join the Warman Chamber and become their Chair.

I was blessed to work with both the Warman and Martensville Chambers of Commerce Boards to create a joint Business Excellence Awards gala called WMBEXA.  This joint effort showed our Boards that our two Chambers working together made us stronger within our business communities which lead to the amalgamation of the two Chambers.  This was the start of the Prairie Sky Chamber of Commerce.

In my experience, the Chamber of Commerce can lead to endless opportunities for businesses who are willing to utilize the available resources, including networking, education and advocacy.

We will see you in the next article.  If you have questions about the Chamber of Commerce, situations you think we need to know about or can help with, please contact me.  I can be reached at ehildebrandt@princealbertchamber.com, 306-221-2373 or come and visit us at 3700 2nd Ave W.

https://www.princealbertchamber.com/