It's been a very busy, challenging and exhilarating year for the Okotoks & District Chamber of Commerce.

From dealing with minimum wage increases and trying to do as much as they can for the local business community to show off what they have to offer there's plenty to talk about.

Chamber President Andrew Gustafson says the change in the Provincial Government and trying to get on the same page of other Chambers has had a little bit of everything.

"Some of those advocacy issues have been met with success and others not so much," he says. "We're moving forward and we're continuing to listen to the needs of our local businesses and we're passing those to all levels of government and I think we're doing really well at the Okotoks level to speak with and engage with our government officials."

There's a silver lining to speaking with politicians on how to help businesses prosper for the Chamber.

They were awarded Chamber of the Year in the province and Gustafson says that will stand out as the highlight of his year.

"We can't start any conversation about 2016 without starting with that. That was a huge thrill for us and it just shows that the provincial level of chambers are recognizing the great work that the Okotoks businesses are doing and the engagement that they have with the local chamber of commerce so we're thrilled about that."

Gustafson adds other highlights for the Chamber including re-establishing a strong relationship with the High River Chamber of Commerce, along with record attendance at monthly luncheons and successful events like the Business Excellence Awards and having great speakers come visit them in 2016.

"It's something in years past we've been good at and for this last few years we just haven't had a lot of conversation with them. We've had some great speakers we had General Rick Hillier come, we met with Brian Jean (Wildrose Party Leader)  this year, we've been really engaged and connected to our MLA Wayne Anderson and we're going to continue to do those sorts of things coming into next year."

Gustafson one of the big obstacles coming for the Chamber is the eventual increase in minimum wage once again to $15 an hour in October but says they have almost a year to prepare for the evitable.

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