The Smithers District Chamber of Commerce is celebrating a century in the Smithers area.
Executive Director Sheena Miller called the occasion an exciting one for her and those involved.
“The chamber has stepped up to support the community in trying times over the years and recently COVID was no different.”
She added the chamber first started as the Smithers Citizens association in 1913, acting as a quazi-municipal government prior to Smithers incorporating as a village.
Instead, they’re using January 14th, 1924, as their date of reference as it’s when they incorporated as the Smithers Board of Trade.
Relations with the First Nations were also a large part of the organization including prior to 1913.
“That tells us that the chamber organization was instrumental in the early years in helping support the admin piece of operating the Town of Smithers,” said Miller.
It wasn’t until 1929 that the name was changed to the Smithers Chamber of Commerce.
“Many Chambers of Commerce are registered as a Board of Trade so technically we are one, but we don’t operate the same way as a Board of Trade,” she said.
Several events are being planned throughout the year to celebrate, including centennial twists to their annual events.
“The goal is just to tell the story of how the chamber has supported the advocacy, the economic development, and the business services over the years,” said Miller.
Some of those include the Community and Business Excellence Awards, Trade Expo, and a video debut about their 100 years.
Their first event is the Chamber of Commerce week from February 12th to 16th.