Chamber cancels golf tournament
YK business organization announces nearly
$50,000 loss on general operations
Jessica Davey-Quantick
Northern News Services
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce won't be hitting the links this year. The organization announced at its annual general meeting yesterday that it is cancelling its Scholarship Golf Classic.
Tim Harris, left, Trevor Bayer, Bill Kellett and Renee Comeau compete in last year's Scholarship Golf Classic. The Yellowknife chamber announced on Tuesday the tournament was cancelled, citing declining revenue from the event. - photo courtesy of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce |
"Revenue generated from our Scholarship Golf Classic has been steadily declining since 2014," said chamber treasurer Mike Lalonde at the meeting. "Last year, the event ran at a loss of $3,929, prompting us as the board to remove the golf tournament as one of our projects."
Overall, project revenues - money generated from events the chamber hosts such as the Business Club Luncheon, Spring Trade Show and AGM - increased by 147 per cent, from $143,958 in 2015 to $355,780 in 2016, which led to a net profit for the chamber of $40,150.
Executive director Deneen Everett credits an upcoming business trip to China for the big increase - after expenses, the trip netted the chamber $25,135 in profit.
"So it makes it look like we're making more money, but we're also spending more money," she said.
That China trip obscures a net loss of $48,095 from the chamber's general operations this year, an $8,000 increase over 2015.
Despite the death of the tournament this year, Lalonde said two $1,500 scholarships the chamber funds from the tournament for students pursuing post secondary education in a business related field will continue.
One of the chamber's three annual cornerstone events, the golf tournament has been held since 2012.
Last year, it cost $21,334 to put on but only brought home $17,405.
Jenni Bruce, hotel manager at the Coast Fraser Tower and member of the chamber of commerce, is sad to see the event go.
"I think it's incredibly unfortunate," she said. "It's one of the most popular golf tournaments out there all summer, and it's excellent networking for the members."
She attended the meeting and said the sentiment was shared by many members.
"Sometimes I don't think these things are necessarily about revenue," she said. "It's basically a staple in the community up there with the Midnight Classic."
Bruce has been attending the tournament for six years, and says the event was so popular that last year she was unable to register a second team to compete. Last year, eight businesses entered teams in the tournament, in addition to teams from the event's sponsors, which is the same as the year before. In 2014, 11 teams, plus sponsors, competed.
"It looked like it lost money, which I understand and that's frustrating, but I'm not sure how," she said.
This wasn't the only event that failed to set accountants' hearts alight with glee: the Business Award Gala also lost money.
"We intended for our Business Award Gala to break even in 2016, and fell short of our goal by $680," said Lalonde at the AGM.
That's still better he says than 2015, however, when the gala lost the chamber $13,000.
For Bruce, focusing on the numbers might be missing the point.
"I would hate to see the chamber turn into a revenue generator instead of something that unifies business, helps us network and helps us have a voice with the government," said Bruce.
She's hopeful that if enough members come forward, the tournament might get another swing after all. "I would love to see that personally, but I'm a golfer so I'm also biased," she said.
