Message from the Executive Director – March 4, 2025
Posted on March 4, 2025 in Feature Member of the Month, Message to the Membership
Holy mackerel! It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? (Years actually, sadly… Sorry to both of you from my rabid fan base.)
Well here we are, already into March and already it seems like 2025 has been a blur. And March, I predict, is going to become even blurrier.
There are so many things going on and so much exciting news to share. It makes it hard to even know where to begin.
This year the NSBA is going full-on in education and workshops. As was presented to a sold-out audience yesterday, we have a series of four separate workshops upcoming in the AI realm.
We’re kicking it off with No Code workshops (March 18 and 25), which are designed to help you automate repetitive tasks and reclaim your time. Next is Marketing (March 22 and 26) which among many, many other things, will help you generate leads automatically.
Third is a Financial workshop (April 1 and 3), which will help you understand your numbers and drive efficiency, and last but not least is one on Human Resources (April 11 and 14), which will help you create a culture of excellence.
Of course, there are scads of other valuable tools you will learn in each of these, but for the sake of brevity, I’m narrowing each down to one descriptor.
Throw in an AGM on March 20 and our annual Business Builder Awards on March 27 and call Q1 2025 a wrap!
(Did I mention March will be blurrier?!?)
But back to the AI workshops if I might. To see the things that AI is capable of, and that our members will learn (and yes, you have to be a member to take advantage of the AI training), is absolutely mind blowing. Wouldn’t you love to harness that knowledge and power?
You can do just that by attending our workshops. You can choose from them a la carte, or you can bundle them up and save, it’s your choice.
We’re also introducing a brand-new sustainability program to our members, which will be fashioned in the educational realm again.
For that we have hired a brand-new ambassador for the program, Dr. Aneela Salman, whose title is Innovation and Sustainability Coordinator. Aneela is a great fit for us and for the role, as she holds a PhD in Public Policy and has built an extensive career in sustainability across three continents. We are indeed fortunate to have her on our team and leading the initiative, which is being funded by our friends at PrairiesCan.
So what is the NSBA doing in this space and why, some will undoubtedly ask. After all, the NSBA is the bastion for all things business and economic, which in Western Canada of course includes fossil fuels. Let me assure you, that has not changed. We still are anti-carbon tax and pro-oil and gas. We just recognize that the world is changing, and if our members don’t keep up with that change, they will be left behind.
For instance, if you want to have any success in procurement from any of the large multi-nationals in our province, you’d better have a sound ESG policy. The same can be said if you’re looking for financing from the major banks.
Fortunately, Dr. Salman brings with her a balanced, reasonable approach to her area of expertise, and with her help, you can become more sustainable, oftentimes save money in the process, and thus better-qualified for the economy of the future.
Watch for our events, her emails and outreach in this area in the coming days, weeks and months ahead. You may not immediately, but eventually you will thank Aneela and the NSBA for our leadership here.
The third BIG thing that your NSBA is doing this year is that we are expanding our Popcorn and Entrepreneurship Series by literally taking it on the road. That’s right, two weeks after the world premiere of our 11th annual Popcorn and Entrepreneurship Series presented by KPMG on August 28, we will be hosting a second showing at Regina’s Mosaic Stadium on September 10.
The reason for this is quite evident when you consider that we are featuring none other than Paul J. Hill, a titan in the Regina, (and Saskatchewan, and Canadian, for that matter), business community. He deserves no less than to be honoured in his hometown, and we are pleased to turn that prospect into reality.
Each of these three exciting new initiatives are newsworthy enough on their own to command an entire Message to the Membership on their own merits. But given that time is of the essence, and let’s face it, it has been months since you last saw one of these (a couple of years actually, unless you were catching up on the archives) I thought there’s no better time than now to bring you up to speed on them all at once.
Let the blurriness commence.
Until next time, be safe, be smart, be considerate, be well, but most of all, be kind.
Keith Moen
Executive Director
NSBA