The Swift Current & District Chamber of Commerce held their annual general meeting (AGM) last week and disclosed they had one of their best year's financially in 2018.

On Wednesday night at Great Plains College, the not-for-profit organization revealed their revenue had climbed by over $38,000 from 2017 to sit at just under $245,000, with their expenses increasing by around $23,000 in a year-over-year comparison bring their total bill to $213,000.

"Our net income increased from the prior year, primarily due to some of the things that Doug mentioned already, increased memberships and events revenue," Mark Clements, last year's treasurer for the Chamber, said. "Our events revenue increased by $30,000."

Membership revenue rose by about $11,000 with the Chamber ending 2018 with 362 members, an additional 20 members from 2017.

"This has been a result of a strong focus on member contact, engagement, advocacy efforts, and community involvement," Clements said.

At the AGM it was also announced there will be some new faces on the Swift Current & District Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for the 2019 year, as well as the executive saw some changes too.

The pair of changes to the board of directors will see Warren Hope of Value Partners Investment Counsel and Nathan MacDonald of the Swift Current Broncos join, and Jesse Kitchen leaving his post.

Karen Richmond will take over as the new chairperson - replacing Doug Evjen who will now be past chairperson. Ken Linsley will join the executive in the 1st vice chairperson role, Mark Clements will move from treasurer to 2nd vice chairperson, and Chance Chickoski will be the new treasurer.

"When I was working for the college, I thought it was very important that the chamber be an advocate for business and the college be involved in that," Richmond said. "The more I got involved with the chamber, the more I found that there was a lot of work to be done regarding the administration of the organization just to get us into the 21st century, so it's been fun."

Richmond added her biggest priority for 2019 is to focus on membership, whether that be retention or growth.